Fang Zichen choked for a second. Caught under Zhao Ger's teasing gaze, he didn't flinch or skip a beat: "I was just blowing smoke to lighten the mood! Can't you take a joke?"
Zhao Ger laughed, then turned to serious matters. "What's your plan for the Huang family?"
"Support the Wang family," Fang Zichen said.
The Wang and Huang families didn't get along—both were in the grain trade, and as the saying goes, rivals are destined to clash.
Zhao Ger furrowed his brows slightly. "Is the Huang family going to kick up a fuss?"
"Kick up a fuss?" Fang Zichen scoffed. "What can they do? Shut down their grain shops and stir up the people again? Do they think I'm the Anhe County magistrate? Old Man Zhong, letting himself be pushed around by them? I wouldn't make a move without being fully prepared. Don't worry about it."
The Huang family was considered 'local gentry'—fairly powerful. They ran numerous shops throughout Hezhou City, all selling grain, with branches in every county. Their business was massive.
Anhe County mainly grew rice, with little corn or soybeans. The villages under its jurisdiction used to get by just fine, but then, for some unknown reason, many families started selling off their land left and right.
An investigation revealed that the villagers, during their off-seasons, would team up and head to town to find work. That year, after days of searching with no luck, they were about to head back when a steward stopped them and asked, "Looking for work? My master's building a house—seven copper coins a day. Interested?"
Of course they were. So off they went.
The master's servants worked alongside them, and one of them was a smooth talker with a pleasant personality. He quickly became friends with everyone.
Because the master needed the house finished quickly, they had to start work before maoshi (5–7 AM). Since the village was far from town, they'd have to leave before dawn if they went home—too much hassle and not enough rest. So they started going home every other day, and on the nights they stayed, they slept in the master's backyard.
The servant suggested that since they'd gotten off work early and couldn't fall asleep right after dinner, he could show them something new.
The men couldn't resist and followed him—to a gambling den.
Their parents had always warned them since childhood to stay away from such places. They'd heard it so often they were scared to go—but at the same time, curiosity gnawed at them.
What exactly was inside a gambling den?
Just taking a peek couldn't hurt, right?
With that thought, they went in.
And that was the end of it.
The servant only needed a few words: "Want to try a couple rounds?"
"What's there to be afraid of? We'll just bet small."
"See those big shots over there? They used to be villagers too—flat broke, dressed worse than you. But look at them now—those outfits cost at least a tael or two. They've got three courtyards in town, and I heard one of them won over forty taels yesterday!"
"Don't worry, you'll win it back next round. Fortune favors the bold, and I can tell you lot have the bearing of nobility."
"Money comes easy with this—out there working hard, you make peanuts in a whole day. When are you ever gonna live the good life?"
Tempted, they figured a few games wouldn't hurt. They played, and the very first round, they won dozens of copper coins.
Easy money—no effort at all. The copper they'd wagered doubled in an instant.
This money came so fast.
Of course the men got hooked.
After that, they bet bigger and bigger. The addiction took hold. They didn't want to work anymore. When the money ran out, they went home for more. When that was gone, they still wanted to gamble—what then? Maybe the next round would turn it all around and they'd break even?
The gambling den’s manager chuckled and said, "No silver left? Then sell your house and fields! You’ll be moving to town soon anyway—why keep that shabby old place in the countryside? Still planning to farm too? Open a shop in town instead. Live easy, just like Boss Fang and Boss Ma. See how carefree they are now?"
The men went home to talk it over. Their families flatly refused. With nowhere else to turn, they borrowed silver straight from the gambling den and kept betting. The debts piled up until they couldn’t pay. The den took hostages. With no other way out, the families were forced to sell their land. In the end, through a few connections, the fields ended up in the Huang family’s hands.
But the Huang family was " benevolent." After buying the land, they let the families stay and work it. The catch was, seventy percent of the harvest each year had to be handed over. Just like that, they became sharecroppers.
Still, the people were grateful. Even though the fields barely fed them, and now most of the grain went to the Huang family, it was better than selling the land outright and having nothing to farm at all.
The villagers pitied their misfortune. But soon, when people started going to town in small groups, things went wrong. Either they’d brush past some noble and send his jade pendant clattering to the ground — worth dozens of taels, a debt they could never pay — or they’d get dragged into trouble for no reason at all...
Most of the villagers were forced to sell large chunks of their land for quick cash.
All sold to the Huang family.
Terrified, the villagers didn't dare go to town anymore. Some families in neighboring villages suffered similar fates.
Over twenty years, the land deeds of most families in several villages had fallen into the Huang family's pockets. Naturally, people grew suspicious—could so many villages be unlucky all at once? That didn't add up. Eventually, somehow, the trail led back to the Huang family.
It was said that everything had been orchestrated by them.
But by then, the Huang family had built their business on this zero-cost scheme and expanded from town to Hezhou City, opening shops all over the region.
When the Anhe County magistrate tried to investigate, the Huang family wasn't afraid at all and refused to cooperate—they'd covered their tracks well. They simply asked, "Where's the evidence? Don't go around slandering good people!"
"We have witnesses."
"Who knows if those witnesses were hired by you, or sent by our rivals? Who can say? If you've got hard evidence, we'll admit it. But just witness testimony with no other proof won't cut it. Magistrate, we're busy merchants—we won't waste our time here."
When the magistrate pressed on, the Huang family lost patience. They shut down every grain shop they owned in Anhe County, and dragged eight or nine allied cloth shops and general stores down with them. Since the Huang shops dominated the area, and most of Hezhou's grain was bought up by them—and they'd already driven out any competing shops without backing—the people couldn't buy rice. People were starving, so of course they rioted.
The Anhe County magistrate reported to his superiors, but the prefect did nothing—he had ties with the Huang family. The Huang family's show of force was formidable, and with no solid evidence, and the magistrate unable to bring in grain from elsewhere — since most of Hezhou's grain was controlled by the Huang family — and with no powerful backers of his own, he couldn't outfight the local gentry. Helpless, he had no choice but to turn a blind eye.
Before Fang Zichen arrived, Deputy Prefect Zhong had also feared that the next prefect might side with the Huang family, so he'd tried to root them out first. But the Huang family pulled the same trick again—Hezhou fell into chaos, they made threats, and the matter was dropped once more.
Without enough influence and backing, entrenched local gentry like these were the hardest to touch.
The Huang family, emboldened by the lack of evidence, ran wild. Thirty-plus years had passed, making it nearly impossible to investigate now.
But in Hezhou, Fang Zichen was the real boss. Did the Huang family think they could push him around? What a joke.
It could have been a good arrangement — officials and merchants working together. But the Huang family had grown too strong, and they clearly held the authorities in no regard. If no one reined them in, Hezhou would soon become their private domain.
The best move was to back other families and prevent any one clan from dominating. If they got too big to handle, things would get messy. For now, Fang Zichen wasn't about to act rashly—if the Huang family pulled the same tricks on him, he might have to back down too.
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