Chapter 55 Fortune Telling
The young man wearing a helmet with a small flag and a hairpin raised his head and looked Su Ze up and down.
He is obviously a scholar wearing a scholar's uniform, but he is taller than his bull-like brother.
This young man's name was Yu Zongyuan, and as Su Ze expected, he was the second son of Yanping Guard Commander Yu Jian.
The Commander of the Yanping Guards is a military attaché of the third rank. Although he is now a high-ranking military officer, he is a dignified Commander of the Yanping Guards. He manages 5,000 Yanping Guards soldiers and 20,000 remaining troops. He is also one of the few figures in Fujian.
Yu Zongyuan was the second son and could not inherit the Yanping Wei position, but he was considered to be in the first echelon among the dandies in Nanping City.
The Yu family of Yanping Prefecture came to Fujian with Zhou Deqing, the Marquis of Jiangxia, who moved to the southeast of the town. The first ancestor of the Yu family followed Zhu Yuanzhang's meritorious deeds against the Yuan Dynasty. He was given the post of commander during the southern and northern campaigns. This passed down to Yu This generation of Frame is already the sixth generation.
According to Yu Zongyuan, when his ancestors followed the Great Grandfather to conquer the country, their descendants have suffered for thousands of generations. Now it is time for their descendants to enjoy the blessings!
Yu Zongyuan has been a famous naughty boy in Nanping City since he was a child, and when he grew up, he became a famous bad boy in Yanping Mansion.
Nineteen years have passed since the life of Xian Yi Ang Ma. Yu Zongyuan will soon reach adulthood, and his good days will soon come to an end.
It stands to reason that for a family like the Yu family, a little bit of wealth from their fingertips would be enough for Yu Zongyuan to live a happy life. However, the Yu family has a strange rule, that is, only the eldest son can inherit everything in the family, including the legitimate inheritance passed down from generation to generation. A third-grade military position, as well as the real estate, farms, workshops and mines accumulated by the Yu family for so many generations.
Sons other than the eldest son will be kicked out of the house when they reach adulthood. Even the other legitimate sons from the same mother as the eldest son can only get a thousand taels of silver and one or two shops and farms.
For ordinary people, one thousand taels of silver is already a huge sum of money that will never be earned in this life, and the Yu family's shops are also prosperous shops that make money. They can already live a quite comfortable life relying on the income of the shop. .
But Yu Zongyuan didn't think so. He was only born two years later than his brother, and they were both from the same mother. Why was it that his brother inherited the family's huge industry, and he could only get this little share?
Moreover, when the men of the Yu family reach adulthood, they will have to move out of the family mansion if they do not have the right to inherit. Yu Zongyuan's profits from one or two shops cannot afford to support the personal maids in his own house.
This time Yu Zongyuan led his troops out privately, and all the "Japanese donations" he received from blocking the road were destined to go into his pocket.
Yu Zongyuan has done this kind of thing many times, and the helmet with a small flag on his head was also stolen from his father's study.
In fact, Yu Zongyuan was robbing under his own banner, and Yanping Guard Commander Yu Jian was well aware of it.
However, the custom of the Yanping Guard is such that serving officers often go out of camp to block roads and rob, and as long as his share is large, the commander will not stop him.
Naturally, Yu Zongyuan did not need to give a confession to his father when he committed robbery. The father and son actually had a tacit understanding. This was an alternative compensation for Yu Zongyuan who was about to move out of the Commander's Residence. It allowed him to move out and live independently to accumulate some wealth.
When he heard that Su Ze wanted to tell his fortune, Yu Zongyuan did not refuse.
A few years ago, Yu Zongyuan was crazy about Jianghu alchemy, and secretly learned the art of overpowering, hoping to curse his own brother to death.
It's a pity that Yu Zongyuan's "magic power" was not enough, so his brother was only infected with cold for a while, but he recovered quickly.
Over the years, Yu Zongyuan has also met many divine witches in Nanping County, and he once learned the technique of "lowering the head" from Nanyang smugglers. However, his brother is getting healthier and healthier, but it is because of his excessive indulgence. , the body becomes increasingly weak.
Over the years, Yu Zongyuan has become less interested in the art of ghosts and gods. As his brother has become more and more prominent in the military, his thoughts on fighting for the inheritance have gradually faded away.
Rather than being in constant turmoil when you can't get it, it's better to make money quickly and make plans for a life outside the house.
However, seeing Su Ze's dignified appearance, Yu Zongyuan's heart still fluctuated a little.
Yu Zongyuan had long been a little bored watching the people blocking roads and collecting money here. Anyway, he had nothing to do, so he just listened to the scholar's calculations.
If he really has something, then the Japanese donation can be waived. If he talks nonsense, then let his sergeant greet him first and let him know the consequences of offending the Yanping Wei Yu family.
"You, a scholar, can tell fortunes, how can
you do it?" "Young Commander, please tell me a number, just the number in your mind."
Yu Zongyuan is a bit strange. He has met fortune-telling people in recent years. The fortune-telling method of Su Ze is quite unique.
"Thirteen."
Su Ze twirled his fingers and pretended to recite a few mantras. Although his level 1 fortune telling was not high, Su Ze relied on his acting skills to imitate the look of an outsider. Yu Zongyuan was stunned for a while.
After the performance was over, Su Ze opened his eyes and said,
"Today we set up a card to collect donations, did the young commander hide this from your father, right?" Yu Zongyuan was stunned for a moment, then looked around. The people brought out of the camp today were all Yu Zongyuan. He deliberately set up a trap so far away from Nanping City. How did Su Ze, an outsider, know this?
Is this guy a good person?
Seeing Yu Zongyuan's expression, Su Ze breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that his guess was correct. He had already read the answer on Yu Zongyuan's face.
Fortune telling is originally a trick of the world. Fortune tellers at home and abroad in ancient and modern times relied on nothing more than "observation of words and colors".
Next is the cold reading technique, which is a set of techniques in psychology to guide others to speak. The fortune teller can use the information in the conversation to give a hexagram interpretation that satisfies the psychological expectations of the seeker.
"Young Commander, with all due respect, the result of this hexagram is not very good. You are afraid of disaster."
Su Ze's two words suddenly stirred up Yu Zongyuan's heart, and he quickly asked :
"Where do disasters come from?"
Su Ze shook his head and said,
"Disasters come from the hands of close relatives."
After hearing Su Ze's explanation, Yu Zongyuan immediately stood up and paced back and forth nervously:
"Isn't it just a trap ? Are you forcing me to donate? Dad won't beat me for this, right?"
"Oops! Could it be that dad knew what happened last time?!"
Seeing Yu Zongyuan's appearance, Su Ze continued:
"Young commander, don't do it Worry, although the hexagram is not very good, there is still a glimmer of hope."
Yu Zongyuan had been manipulated by Su Ze's words, and he quickly asked: "Please teach me, sir!"
Su Ze touched his non-existent beard and said:
"I only have four words for 'confession and leniency'. Telling my wrongdoings as early as possible may save me the pain."
Yu Zongyuan was frightened by Su Ze, and his hands and feet began to tremble. He pointed at Su Ze Said:
"You scholar, if your calculations are not accurate, I will never spare you!"
Su Ze said calmly:
"Su will go to the county school to study on the 15th of this month. If the calculation is not accurate, the young commander can go to the county school to argue with me! If the calculation is not accurate, no money will be taken! I will double the local Japanese donation, how about it?"
Seeing that Su Ze was so confident, Yu Zongyuan was completely frightened by Su Ze. He immediately called on the soldiers to remove the bayonet and quickly led the people back to Nanping City.
At this moment, Lin Xianyang and the people waiting to cross the checkpoint were stunned. They saw Su Ze and the officer exchange a few words, and the other party immediately removed the checkpoint.
Everyone cheered and bowed to Su Ze, and Su Ze quickly lifted up an old man in front of him.
He looked at the people and said, "Everyone, let's hurry up."
Just as everyone continued on their way, the commander of the Yanping Guards, Yu Jian, received news of the soldiers. His youngest son led the soldiers out of the city to set up a trap and rob. Oh, don’t let people donate money.
Yu Jian stood up immediately. The commander had been in a bad mood recently, and Yu Zongyuan happened to hit the muzzle of the gun.
Yu Jian has already received a document from the Ministry of War. The imperial court is going to dispatch the Yushi Qing Army to track down the officers whose ancestors have committed serious crimes. Not only will these officers be removed from their military positions, but the salaries paid by the imperial court will also be recovered.
Yu Jian knows the virtues of these censors best. They can take out the grease from the stomachs of mosquitoes and chop off two ounces of meat from the legs of egrets!
The Yanping Guard itself cannot stand up to the investigation, yet this traitor is still leading his troops out to rob at this juncture!
Thinking of the newly appointed Yanping magistrate's indifferent appearance, Yu Jian's mood became even heavier.
Although the prefect cannot control himself as the commander, but now that he is a noble man and a lowly military official, the censor will definitely be received by the government. If the new prefect says something bad about himself to the censor, he will not be dismissed from his position. , but massive bleeding is definitely necessary.
Yesterday when the new magistrate was offering sacrifices to the city god, he said that he wanted to rectify the Yanping Prefecture's officialdom. Today, his son led troops to rob. If something happened, wouldn't he be beaten by the magistrate?
"Bring this traitor back to me quickly!"
Yu Jian immediately ordered his guards, then picked up the ruler on the table and said:
"When this traitor comes back, I will beat him to death!
(End of Chapter)