Liu Shancheng is in a good mood these days, this day has reached the wax moon, and the New Year is about to be celebrated in a blink of an eye.

This year, the income of the Liu family is very good, since he became the head of the Liu family, the Liu family has been thriving over the years, especially in these years and the border trade in the north has been reopened, so that the Liu family can make a lot of money on the trade road in Mongolia, looking at the increasing numbers on the ledger, Liu Shancheng is very happy.

This year is much better than last year, and I think next year will be even better.

The road to the salt well in Jiezhou has been opened, although it cost a lot of silver to bribe the mine supervisor, but these silver are definitely worth it to Liu Shancheng.

In the spring of next year, their Liu family will be able to completely monopolize the surplus salt in Jiezhou, which is not a small number, you must know that the amount of surplus salt in Jiezhou is much larger than the amount of regular salt, so much surplus salt is in the hands of the Liu family, so the Liu family's share of salt sold to the grassland has increased several times at once.

This is not counting, in addition to salt, the Liu family also opened up the road of iron smelting from Wenyu Mountain in Xia County, so that the Liu family not only has an advantage in salt road, but also in iron smelting.

Salt and iron are both strategic materials that are urgently needed on the grassland, and as long as they can be transported to the north, they are extremely profitable.

Liu Shancheng himself has carefully calculated, and by this time next year, their Liu family's wealth will be able to rise to a higher level, and the Liu family will also be able to become one of the largest merchants in the entire Shanxi, which is something that Mrs. Liu has not been able to do in his whole life, but he Liu Shancheng is within reach.

Thinking of this, Liu Shancheng was so happy that he was about to laugh out loud, thinking about the plan after the beginning of spring, and was thinking about it, when a person hurriedly came in outside.

Liu Shancheng's face sank suddenly, and he was about to scold, the rules of the Liu family are very strict, and people entering his house must be notified before they enter his house on weekdays, where is there a direct break-in? But when I took a closer look, I saw that the person who came was Lin Zhenzong, the chief housekeeper of the house, and stopped scolding when he got to his mouth, but he also blamed him a little unhappily.

"Master, it's not good! Something happened! Lin Zhenzong hurriedly entered the door, and didn't care about explaining, and came to Liu Shancheng's side in a few steps and said.

"Something?"

"The prefect's yamen sent someone to the mansion, please go to the mansion immediately." Lin Zhenzong said in a low voice, with a hint of urgency on his face.

"The prefect's yamen? It's a servant? So what's going on? Liu Shancheng was stunned and asked.

"Not only the officials, but also Zhao Soaptou, saying that someone ordered a lawsuit to invite the master."

"A human life lawsuit? What is a life lawsuit? Liu Shancheng was puzzled, what kind of life lawsuit could their Liu family have that could involve the prefect's yamen? What's more, he, Liu Shancheng, and Li Tongzhi of Pingyang Mansion have a lot of friendships, and even Jiang Tongju has drunk a few meals together and called him brother and brother at the wine table. It stands to reason that if there is really something, it should be reported first, how can it be possible to come directly to the door?

"Sir, have you forgotten? Wasn't the maid Xiaohuan in Mrs. Xiangyu's room more than a month ago gone? I inquired about Zhao Soaptou privately just now, saying that Xiaohuan's family had sued the prefect's yamen, and the prefect Yu took the pleadings, so Zhao Soaptou led someone to the door to invite the master to ...... the court. ”

"Little Ring?" Liu Shancheng frowned and thought about it, then he remembered that there was such a person, this maid was in his concubine Xiangyu's room, and he made a mistake more than a month ago and ate a beating, but he didn't think that this maid was weak and died a few days after being beaten.

In a big family, what is the death of a maid? What's more, Xiaohuan's family is just an ordinary poor family, if there are some family businesses, they won't sell their children to the Liu family as maids?

Death is death, after the person died, he was directly dragged to the mass grave outside the city and buried, and this matter passed like this. But who would have thought that today I actually heard that Xiaohuan's parents went to the prefect's yamen to complain about this matter, and directly sued him Liu Shancheng, which made Liu Shancheng feel angry in his heart instantly.

"Bastard!" Liu Shancheng slapped the circle chair fiercely, stood up and scolded: "Who gave them such a big guts? How dare you submit a petition to the prefect's yamen? It's lawless! ”

"Master, this matter has been out, the pleadings have been handed over, and the key is to the prefect. Now that the people from the prefect's yamen have come, no matter what, they have to go. In my opinion, sir, you have condescended to the court today, and then I will find Li Tongzhi to deal with this matter, anyway, it is not a big deal to be a mere maid, it is a big deal to spend some silver...... Of course, Lin Zhenzong understands why Liu Shancheng is angry, for the Liu family, it is not a big deal to kill a maid, but now that Liu Shancheng has sued, he has to go to the prefect's yamen, which is simply a shame.

Liu Shancheng is also a person with a head and face in Pingyang Mansion, not to mention the great family business, and has a deep relationship with officialdom, whether it is the county or Pingyang Mansion, the same acquaintance or the general judge are all friends of the Liu family.

It's not bad to lose face, you have to spend money to make a point, no matter how much money the Liu family has, it is just a merchant, it is right that the Liu family has a relationship in officialdom, but this relationship is also built up with silver.

Thinking of this, Liu Shancheng felt very uncomfortable in his heart, but what Lin Zhenzong said was right, the prefect's yamen had already sent someone, and he couldn't avoid this matter at all.

Although he has a good relationship with Li Tongzhi and Jiang Tongju, he has no friendship with the prefect Yu Zhida. This Yu Zhida was just transferred to Pingyang Mansion at the beginning of this year, and was previously the deputy of Dali Temple, although the official grade is not high, but the status is not low, and he is a Beijing official.

Dali Temple is one of the three legal divisions, equivalent to the Supreme Court of later generations, and the temple also belongs to one of the nine Qings, but the actual work is the left and right temples below, and the left and right temples have a deputy, this deputy is called the temple vice-president, and the official position before Yu Zhida is this.

It's not that Liu Shancheng doesn't want to take advantage of Yu Zhida's relationship, but the problem is that Yu Zhida is a bit high-minded and doesn't care about himself at all.

Originally, Liu Shancheng planned to take advantage of the opportunity of the upcoming New Year to find a way to dredge it up, but he didn't think that this matter had not been done yet, and the people from the prefect's yamen came first.

Although he was angry, Liu Shancheng did not panic at all, what is the fate of a maid for him? Not to mention that he was actually sued by the mud legs, Liu Shancheng already had an idea in his heart at this time, and after the hall was finished and the matter was solved, he had to take a good look at the mud legs couple who dared to sue him.

After a while, changing into his robe, Liu Shancheng went out of the house and swaggered to the front yard.

When I got over there, a few officials were already waiting, and the leading Zhao soap was quite polite when he saw Liu Shancheng, and said that there was really no way to invite someone today, and Yu Zhifu spoke, and he couldn't help himself when he was on official business, and asked Master Liu not to be surprised.

Liu Shancheng was also angry, waved his hand and said that it was okay, since there was such a thing, he would follow them. Then Liu Shancheng got into his own sedan chair, accompanied by the chief housekeeper Lin Zhenzong, and the group went directly to the prefect's yamen.

When he arrived at the prefect's yamen and got off the sedan chair, Zhao Soaptou led Liu Shancheng into the lobby alone.

As soon as he entered the lobby, Liu Shancheng's eyes looked into the hall, only to see the prefect Yu Zhida sitting firmly in the hall in official uniforms, and there were two ordinary men and women with gray hair kneeling in front of the hall, Liu Shancheng didn't know them, but if the guess was correct, they should be the parents of the maid Xiaohuan who sued him.

But the strange thing is that there is a chair under the left hand of Liu Zhida's seat, and there is a man sitting on the chair, this man Liu Shancheng doesn't know, looking at his dress, he seems to be an ordinary person, but how can he sit so firmly in the lobby?

In addition, there are soap class officials and a man dressed as a master standing. Zhao Soaptou entered the lobby and saluted Yu Governor in the hall, saying that Liu Shancheng had brought it. Hearing this, Yu Zhida, who closed his eyes and recuperated, opened his eyes, looked towards the hall, and fell on Liu Shancheng, who followed Zhao Soaptou to the lobby.

"Is Liu Shancheng in the hall?" Yu Zhida's majestic and loud voice sounded.

"I've seen Lord Fuzun, and it's Liu Shancheng's ...... below." Liu Shancheng bowed, but before he could get up, Yu Zhi's loud voice came again.

"Liu Shancheng, do you have an official position?"

"Hui Fuzun, no."

"But the students?"

"It's not ......."

With a snap, Yu Zhida grabbed the startling wood on the desk and slapped it, and asked sharply: "Neither an official position nor a student, why don't you kneel when you see this mansion?" Someone! ”

As soon as the words fell, Liu Shancheng, who had not yet come back to his senses, only felt that his knees had been kicked heavily, and the whole person couldn't control it and fell forward, and fell to the ground with a thud.

Liu Shancheng, who was stumbling this time, was dizzy, and the whole person was chaotic, and then he shouted again when he heard it: "Left and right!" Ten boards for this house! ”

As soon as these words came out, Liu Shancheng was terrified, the Liu family's business has become bigger and bigger over the years, and the more high-ranking officials and nobles he Liu Shancheng has befriended. For a long time, he has dealt with the political envoys and governors' yamen, down to the prefectures and counties below, and even the mine supervisors and tax supervisors sent by the palace to the localities.

Silver is invincible, and it is even more common to drink and have fun with these people on weekdays. After a long time, Liu Shancheng was also vague about his identity, not to mention the rest, even Li Tongzhi and Jiang Tongju of Pingyang Mansion were all guests of his Liu Mansion.

And Liu Shancheng has lived for so many years, and it is the first time he has returned to the court, so when he saw the prefect, Yu Zhi forgot his identity when he was in his freshman year.

In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, Lao Zhu innovated and established rules, and the people did not kneel when they saw officials, but now it is no longer the era of Lao Zhu. Even ordinary people are like this, not to mention the merchants at the end of the four people.

As a businessman, no matter how rich Liu Shancheng is, he can't change his lowly status, if the people sitting in the hall have interests in collusion with Liu Shancheng, this matter will naturally pass with one eye closed.

But it is Yu Zhida who is sitting today, Yu Zhida is a Zhengpai Jinshi, and he is the Pingyang prefect who was transferred from the deputy of Dali Temple, and he is especially concerned about these rules.