L.F-Hist.Novelist Chapter 33 Showdown in the Funeral Hall
Chapter 33 Showdown in the Funeral Hall
Hearing that Yin'e had exposed this matter.
Although he did not mention the crown prince's name, everyone understood.
The officials' eyes lit up.
It's a kind of brilliance that comes from long-suppressed feelings, when someone finally steps forward.
Their gazes toward Yin'e shifted from surprise to admiration, and from admiration to anticipation.
Yinzhen's expression finally changed.
It wasn't anger, nor surprise, but a complex, scrutinizing solemnity.
He clearly knew that Yin'e would bring this up; when the news spread from the teahouse and tavern, he knew that someone was stirring things up behind the scenes.
But he did not expect that Yin'e would choose this occasion and this method to throw this matter in his face.
But he didn't fall into the self-justification trap like Tian Wenjing.
He did not explain the matter of Huang Tiren and Xiao Guoxing, nor did he question Yin'e, "How did you know?", nor did he defend the Crown Prince.
He didn't even pick up on that topic, but instead changed the subject, turning his attention back to Yin'e himself.
"Tenth Brother, you've said so much, have you paid back your own money yet?"
You owe the national treasury 200,000 taels of silver, and you haven't paid back a single cent.
You haven't even paid off your own debts, what right do you have to ask others?
That's a ruthless move.
It struck directly at Yin'e's weak point.
You keep talking about debt collection, fairness, and treating everyone equally, but you yourself are in debt. What right do you have to criticize others?
Everyone looked at Yin'e, waiting for his answer.
Yin'e, however, did not panic.
He smiled.
That smile wasn't forced; it was as if it were saying, "Fourth Brother, you've finally hit the nail on the head."
"Don't worry, Fourth Brother," he patted his chest, "someone will return my money soon."
"My IOU for 200,000 taels will be removed from the Ministry of Revenue's records today."
Yinzhen frowned slightly.
Yin'e continued, his voice growing louder and more confident: "Moreover, not only have I paid off my own debts, but I'll also cover Lord Wei's 300,000 taels!"
The moment those words were spoken, the entire room erupted in cheers.
It wasn't a noisy explosion, but a silent, subdued explosion that was more powerful than any loud noise.
Everyone stared wide-eyed, mouths agape, frozen in place, speechless for a long time.
Three hundred thousand taels.
Tenth Master repaid 300,000 taels of silver on behalf of Lord Wei?
"Lord Wei was loyal and righteous all his life, and he worked hard for the court. I can't bear to see him leave this world with debts on his hands."
"Although I am not a very rich or powerful person, I have a sense of morality."
Even if I have to sell my mansion and empty my pockets, I will definitely pay back this debt for Lord Wei!
His eyes were red, and his voice trembled slightly, but his back was ramrod straight.
At this moment, he was not acting.
Or rather, he got into the role himself.
Wei Shitong knelt on the ground, crying so hard he couldn't speak.
He lay prostrate on the ground, his forehead pounding against the blue bricks, again and again, making a thumping sound.
He mumbled "Tenth Master's great kindness" incoherently, his voice broken and almost inaudible as he choked on his tears.
Among the officials who came to offer their condolences, some had tears in their eyes, some lowered their heads to secretly wipe away their tears, some clenched their fists, and some looked at Yin'e with admiration.
On one hand, there's the executioner who drives people to their deaths, ruthless and merciless, cursing someone's son in the funeral hall and pushing them to their death.
On one hand, there's the chivalrous hero who repays the debts of the dead, stands up for the weak, and makes a public promise at the funeral.
High judgment.
No explanation or evaluation was needed; everyone present had their own judgment.
Yinzhen stood there, his expression no longer just solemn.
His fingers were trembling slightly; he was angry.
Yin'e's move was completely unexpected.
He never dreamed that Yin'e would say something like "pay off the debts of the Wei family".
This was the only variable he hadn't anticipated throughout the entire debt collection process.
You try to reason with him, but he tries to reason with you.
You talk to him about rules, and he talks to you about morality.
You tell him that it's only right to pay back debts, and he just pulls out 300,000 taels of silver and slams it on the table.
Although the 300,000 taels was just a sentence, the impact of that sentence was greater than that of real gold and silver.
"You! You!" Yinzhen pointed at Yin'e, his fingertips trembling slightly, his lips quivering. "You, you're insane?"
He had never been blocked like this in his entire life.
there has never been.
Seeing that Yinzhen was at a disadvantage, the Thirteenth Prince Yinxiang quickly stepped forward and stood in front of Yinzhen.
His tall stature completely shielded Yinzhen from view.
"Tenth Brother, you're truly a man of boundless generosity! Three hundred thousand taels, you just took it all in one go. May I ask, where did you make such a fortune, Tenth Brother? Perhaps you could lend me a hand?"
These words were meant to help Yinzhen out of a predicament, but also to test Yin'e's limits: Do you have money? Where did you get the money from?
Yin'e looked at Yinxiang and smiled.
"Thirteenth brother, I have no money."
Yinxiang's smile froze slightly.
"I have no money," Yin'e repeated. "Even that 200,000 taels was something Ninth Brother promised to help me pay off. Where would I get 300,000?"
The crowd stirred again.
No money? If you have no money, why are you shouting?
Yin'e remained calm and continued, "However, I have a sense of justice. I cannot stand by and watch Lord Wei do this."
Even if I had to sell my entire Tenth Prince's mansion, pawn all my possessions, and strip down to my last clothes to beg on the streets, I would still repay this 300,000 taels of silver for Lord Wei!
By the end, his voice was almost a shout.
The mourning hall was quiet for a moment.
Then, someone started clapping.
Yinzhen's face was extremely ugly.
He glanced at Yin'e, then turned around and strode out of the mourning hall.
This time, he didn't say anything.
Because he knew he had lost this battle.
The three figures walked across the courtyard and out the gate.
Yin De squeezed through the crowd and approached him, his voice full of worry and doubt: "Tenth Master... that 300,000... are you really planning to...?"
"Stop talking," Yin'e waved his hand, interrupting him. "We'll talk about it when we get back."
In fact, what Yin'e said in the mourning hall just now was not an impulsive act.
Last night, after returning from Ninth Master's residence, he tossed and turned in bed, barely closing his eyes for half the night.
A thought kept swirling in my mind.
Wei Dongting served as the Imperial Textile Commissioner in Jiangning for more than a decade, which was one of the most lucrative positions in the world.
He has handled far more than a million taels of silver. Even if he spends money extravagantly, accumulating a fortune of several hundred thousand taels would not be a problem.
How could such a wealthy man be driven to despair by 300,000 taels of silver?
He turned over, staring at the carvings on the tent ceiling, and suddenly remembered an old story.
Emperor Kangxi made six southern tours, and stayed at Wei Dongting's house on three of them.
At the Jiangning Imperial Textile Bureau, Yangzhou Tianning Temple, and Suzhou Imperial Textile Bureau, wasn't Wei Dongting personally receiving the emperor on every occasion?
Every single time, they spared no expense to organize it.
The garden that the emperor wants to live in needs to be repaired;
The road the emperor chooses to take must be paved;
The emperor's entourage should be rewarded;
The opera troupe that the Emperor selected must be invited.
The scale and the cost were far beyond what a million taels of silver could possibly cover.
Even if Wei Dongting had mountains of gold and silver, he couldn't resist spending them like this.
More importantly, Wei Dongting spent this money not for himself.
He spent it on behalf of the Emperor.
The emperor stayed at his house and ate at his house, so he couldn't possibly hold the emperor accountable, could he?
The money was poured in, one sum at a time, without even a ripple.
And the Emperor? He knew it perfectly well.
He could tell how much money Wei Dongting had spent on him from the pomp and circumstance of his southern tour.
Although the Emperor did not explicitly state these accounts, he kept them in mind.
Having figured this out, Yin'e felt a sense of clarity.
In fact, when Emperor Kangxi ordered his fourth son to recover the debts owed to the national treasury, the ostensible reason was to treat everyone equally and ensure that all those who owed money had to pay.
While debt collection is important, there must be priorities.
Those who borrowed money from the national treasury to lend, do business, or squander it are the ones who should be held accountable, because they are embezzling the government's money and enriching their own pockets.
But Wei Dongting was different.
His money was spent on the emperor, on the pomp and circumstance of the southern tour, and on things that made the emperor look good.
The Emperor was well aware of this.
Even if Wei Dongting owed the national treasury money, the emperor might not really intend for him to repay it, or at least he wouldn't force him to repay it in this way.
Unfortunately, the fourth brother doesn't think things through when he does things.
He took on the job of collecting debts and thought he was acting on behalf of God, being impartial and incorruptible, and wished he could drag all the debtors out of the streets for a public parade.
He didn't even consider who he could pursue and who he couldn't.
Who should be pursued, and who shouldn't?
He only knew one thing: paying back debts is a matter of course.
He disregarded all considerations of human relationships, court decorum, and the emperor's thoughts.
To put it nicely, it's called being upright and incorruptible; to put it bluntly, it's just having very low emotional intelligence.
That's why Yin'e dared to say in the mourning hall, "I'll cover Lord Wei's expenses."
Does he have the money to repay this debt? Definitely not.
Because he bet that Emperor Kangxi wouldn't make him repay the money.
Wei Dongting's money was spent on behalf of the Emperor, and the Emperor was well aware of this.
Now that someone has stood up for Wei Dongting and publicly taken on this debt at the funeral hall, this matter will surely reach the Emperor's ears.
What will the emperor think then?
He would think, "Although the tenth prince is reckless, he has a sense of justice. He knows who has contributed to the court and who shouldn't be forced into this situation."
The emperor might scold him for meddling, or he might resent him for acting on his own initiative, but he will definitely remember this.
Even if he lost the bet and the emperor really made him pay back the 300,000, he wouldn't be afraid.
We can always find another way.
Although 300,000 taels is a lot, it's not entirely impossible to raise.
But what he won was the hearts of the entire court, a reputation for "public-spiritedness and righteousness," and the gratitude of the Wei family for generations.
These things are worth far more than 300,000 taels of silver.
Yin'e understood this situation better than anyone else.