Chapter Two: Do You Want to Give It a Try?

“Gu Zhengchen!”

Wang Youcheng hadn’t expected that just when he thought he had everything under control, someone would come out and stir up trouble. Was he a fool? On previous occasions when he tried to trick Gu Qingqing, Gu Zhengchen never showed his face or spoke a word. And now, here he was, ruining everything!

“Brother…”

Gu Qingqing looked towards Gu Zhengchen, tears welling in her eyes.

Gu Zhengchen forcefully pushed Wang Youcheng aside, glanced over the “Indenture Contract,” squinted his eyes, and said, “First, there’s no price stated; second, there’s no explanation about clearing debts; third, no mediator to vouch for it; fourth, no close relatives to guarantee it. Scholar Wang, what kind of contract is this ‘indenture’ of yours?”

Wang Youcheng was unshaken when Gu Zhengchen saw through him. “Oh, perhaps I grabbed the wrong document when I left.”

Gu Zhengchen’s gaze turned cold as he looked at the sneaky Wang Youcheng.

This man was a scoundrel. From the start, his plan wasn’t to buy Gu Qingqing with money but to kidnap her, abuse her at home, and then discard her once the Gu family came looking. By then, Gu Qingqing would be defiled, and the Gu family would gain nothing. Even if they reported it to the authorities, Wang Youcheng could accuse Gu Qingqing of consent.

He not only wanted to bully Gu Qingqing but also to push the Gu family into utter despair.

Rip!

Gu Zhengchen tore the “indenture contract” bit by bit, walked over to Wang Youcheng, and threw the torn pieces in his face. Looking at the furious Wang Youcheng, he said, “Scholar Wang, you like to play games, don’t you? How about I play with you?”

Wang Youcheng spat out the paper fragments sticking to his mouth and shouted, “Gu Zhengchen, you owe my family money and won’t pay it back. So what if I want your sister?”

“Try it if you dare!” Gu Zhengchen shouted fiercely, his expression solemn. “According to the imperial code, if a powerful man forcibly takes a wife or daughter’s property due to private debts without reporting to the court, he shall receive eighty lashes. Shall we ask the county magistrate whether the eighty lashes are meant for you or me?”

Wang Youcheng’s face changed. He looked at his attendant and asked, “Is there really such a law in the code?”

The attendant, knowing a bit more, nodded helplessly. Indeed, the code promulgated in the twelfth month of the first year of Wu, a year before the founding of the Ming dynasty, had such a clause.

Wang Youcheng pointed at Gu Zhengchen and shouted, “You owe money and refuse to pay—how dare you talk back? I’ll have you thrown in jail, and your whole family too!”

Gu Zhengchen waved his hand dismissively. “I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. According to the code, for those who fail to repay private debts over five guan and breach the contract for three months, the punishment is ten lashes. Scholar Wang, you owe my family money, and there’s seven days overdue. Even if I default for three months and don’t repay by July, the worst the law allows is ten lashes. Where’s the talk of jail?”

Wang Youcheng trembled with anger. “Gu Zhengchen, you usually study the Four Books and Five Classics, so when did you get so familiar with the legal code?”

Gu Zhengchen looked coldly at the speechless Wang Youcheng. The Ming Code wouldn’t be promulgated until February of the seventh year of Hongwu; currently, the main law in effect was the earlier code. As for the grand edicts personally written by the founding emperor, they wouldn’t be issued for another twelve years, or else they could be used to intimidate people.

“Clap, clap!”

Applause rang out.

Gu Zhengchen turned to the entrance and saw Wang Fugui, a somewhat refined man, applauding with a smile on his face. His short beard trembled slightly, and his narrow eyes revealed sharp cunning.

“Well spoken, Gu Juren, truly extraordinary.”

Wang Fugui entered.

“Father.”

Wang Youcheng hurried forward.

Wang Fugui raised his hand and slapped Wang Youcheng sharply. The loud slap sent a shiver through the room. “Idiot! How have you been taught? You mess up even the smallest matters. Get back home and don’t embarrass me!”

“Yes, Father,” Wang Youcheng replied, covering his face and not daring to argue.

Wang Fugui looked at Gu Zhengchen, examined him carefully, then smiled broadly. “Gu Juren, borrowing money and repaying debts is only right. Though there are laws, they cannot replace mutual agreements among neighbors. Seven days—you have only seven days to repay. If you can’t, then how about you humbly work as a tenant on my land to settle the debt?”

Gu Zhengchen eyed Wang Fugui warily; this man was a sycophant with a knife hidden beneath his smile—difficult to deal with.

“No problem.”

Gu Zhengchen answered immediately.

Wang Fugui’s eyes flashed with surprise but soon burst into laughter, nodding repeatedly. “Good, very good. Let’s go.”

“Brother…”

Gu Qingqing anxiously grabbed Gu Zhengchen’s arm.

Wang Youcheng followed his father into the house, flattering them as they went. “Father’s methods are indeed powerful. If Gu Zhengchen can’t clear the debt in seven days, he’ll have to obediently become our tenant. Then, I’m the knife and board, and he’s the fish and meat—do whatever I want with him.”

Wang Fugui’s mouth twitched.

Indeed, tenants were not slaves but barely better. Now, owing six guan didn’t seem like much, but there were countless ways to operate. If they made him unable to repay for twenty years, he wouldn’t leave for nineteen!

“Father, what if Gu Zhengchen comes up with six guan…”

“Like him?” Wang Fugui sneered.

The Gu family had lost their land and oxen. Their most valuable asset was probably Gu Qingqing herself, but who would spend six guan on a mere yellow-haired girl worth four guan?

Gu Zhengchen was a poor scholar with no skills besides writing a few characters and quoting Confucius—what else could he do?

“Father, what about Gu Wei…”

“Silence!” Wang Fugui shot a cold, ruthless glare at Wang Youcheng.

Wang Youcheng quickly lowered his head, silent.

Wang Fugui looked at the wild grass by the roadside and said in a low voice, “If this grass isn’t uprooted, it will keep growing back year after year. Sooner or later, it will be trouble.”

Wang Youcheng nodded heavily.

Gu Wei was the grass; Gu Zhengchen was the root. If the grass died, the root must not remain. This time, they intended to make sure the Gu family would never rise again!

At the Gu residence.

Gu Zhengchen had scolded Gu Qingqing a few times, and now she was quietly sobbing.

Seeing Gu Qingqing, her eyes red and swollen with tears, both heartbroken and frightened, Gu Zhengchen felt a pang of guilt. He had no choice but to threaten her with bluster: “If you keep acting recklessly, I’ll break your leg.”

Gu Qingqing smiled through her tears. “Brother, are you better now?”

Gu Zhengchen didn’t answer directly but asked, “Where did Mother go?”

Wiping her tears, Gu Qingqing said, “She went to borrow money. As for where exactly, Mother didn’t say.”

Gu Zhengchen frowned.

Borrow money?

In everyone’s eyes, the Gu family was already ruined, with no chance to recover. Who would lend their mother money?

Six guan was not a small amount—it was a fortune. An ordinary family of five might not spend that much in a year! The Gu family couldn’t rob Peter to pay Paul; if they wanted to escape their plight, they had to find a way to earn money!

Earn money?

After pondering for a long time, Gu Zhengchen said to Gu Qingqing, “Mother should be back by evening. It’s still early; come with me into the city.”

“All right, Brother, wait for me.”

Gu Qingqing washed her face and rummaged in her room for a while before coming out with a copper coin in her palm. She looked up and said, “Brother, Mother gave me this.”

Gu Zhengchen’s eyes lit up as he looked at the coin. “Hongwu Tongbao?”

This was a valuable item; taken back to the future, it could bring wealth. But now was the Hongwu era—never mind.

At this time, the Ming dynasty had not yet issued the banknotes that would later set Guinness records. The main currency in circulation was the Hongwu Tongbao coin.

Probably to avoid using the character “Yuan” from Zhu Yuanzhang’s name, Ming coins did not copy the Song dynasty’s “Yuanbao” (such as Xining Yuanbao) but were uniformly called “Tongbao.”

Gu Zhengchen picked up the Hongwu Tongbao coin and flipped it to the back, where the characters “Double Fortune” were inscribed. He couldn’t help but smile. “It’s worth two coins!”

Double coin meant it was worth two wen.

In ancient times, a copper coin wasn’t always worth one wen. Its exact value depended on the weight characters on the back or could be judged by size and weight.

One wen was the basic unit, the smallest coin, and there were coins worth two, three, five, or even fifteen wen. The higher the value, the larger and heavier the coin.

Gu Zhengchen flipped the coin between his fingers, then tossed it up and caught it. His gaze was resolute as he said, “This is the original capital for our family’s rise. Watch closely, brother will trample those who bullied us underfoot! We won’t be ants in the Hongwu era; we will be beasts!”