Chapter 939
Much More Clever
The city wall was only a little over two zhang high, and most of the paint on the gate tower had peeled off. There weren't many people coming and going, which was nothing like the bustling atmosphere of Hongyun City today.
But as soon as they entered the city, there were quite a few officials and commoners, all crowding towards the county government office.
The shouting could be heard from afar.
"Why should the old house belong to you?!"
"My father made it very clear before he died that the eldest son should inherit the family business, so the ancestral home is naturally mine!"
"Bullshit! What business are you in? It's me who's been out there trading all these years, earning money to repair the roof and mend the walls! All you do is act like the eldest son at home!"
"What about the shop? You have to give me the shop, right? I've been learning carpentry from my father for over ten years. If you don't give me the shop, who will?"
"You two talk about houses and shops all the time, so what about me? Am I just destined to starve with two acres of barren land? Did my parents give birth to me and raise me just so I could be your stepping stone?"
The county government office was surrounded by layers of people.
The three brothers standing in the middle were all well-dressed, indicating that their family was indeed quite wealthy. The eldest, who was in his early forties, had a ruddy complexion and his chest heaved rapidly; the second brother was thin and wiry, and he was clutching an abacus in his hand; the youngest was not yet thirty, his face full of defiance, his sleeves rolled up, looking like he was ready to pounce on them at any moment.
On the stone steps in front of the county government office stood a middle-aged county magistrate in a blue official robe, his brows furrowed so deeply they looked like a pretzel.
The two clerks beside him were sweating profusely, one carrying documents and the other carrying an abacus. They had clearly been trying to persuade him for a long time, but to no avail.
Zhou Xiaoliu stood on tiptoe and watched for a while, then whispered, "Master, this commotion is quite interesting. I just went and inquired about it. The family's surname is Gu. The old man died a few days ago, leaving behind an ancestral house, a woodworking shop on the street, twenty acres of good land outside the city, and eight hundred taels of silver. The problem is that he didn't draw up a written agreement before he died. He only said a few words, telling the three brothers to discuss how to divide it among themselves. As a result, when they came to the county government today, they almost beat the dog's brains out."
Xu Chuan snorted from the side: "Can this kind of thing be discussed? Just divide it according to seniority, and that's it."
Zhou Xiaoliu immediately shook his head: "It's not that simple. The eldest brother said he's been taking care of his parents and should be entitled to the ancestral home. The second brother said the shop was built up by him and the old man, so it should rightfully belong to him. The third brother said he served in the military a few years ago and didn't get anything when he came back, so why should he be the one who suffers the most loss? Everyone thinks they're right."
Zheng Yi stood at the back of the crowd, not moving immediately.
He first looked at the three brothers, then at the neighbors standing on either side of the yamen entrance.
Although there were many onlookers, none of them seemed relaxed or at ease watching the spectacle.
This shows that this matter is no longer just a simple argument.
It's likely that these three brothers have some old grudges between them.
The magistrate shouted twice from the steps, "Silence! I have already said that if there is no will, we will mediate according to the law. What kind of behavior is this, making a scene in front of the yamen!"
The third brother retorted, "Sir, how can we, the common people, accept this? According to the law, none of us three will accept this!"
The eldest son also got anxious: "The ancestral home is our root, how can it be torn down and divided?"
The second son sneered, "Fine, don't demolish it, just give me the shop. You can divide the rest however you like!"
"Why should the shop be given to you!"
"I know how to do chores! Would you know how to do it if I gave it to you? All you do is sleep with your ancestral tablets!"
Seeing that another argument was about to break out, the magistrate's face darkened.
His clerk whispered, "Sir, why don't we take them inside first and give each of them twenty strokes of the cane..."
The magistrate glared at him: "You think you can just fight it out and then not divide it? You're going to decide for me?"
The advisor immediately shrank back.
Zheng Yi watched for a while, then suddenly stepped forward.
Zhou Xiaoliu and Xu Chuan followed on the left and right respectively.
The crowd automatically made way for him. It wasn't that they knew him, but although he was dressed casually, his demeanor was too composed. As he walked forward, he didn't look like someone watching a spectacle, but rather someone who was there on business.
The magistrate spotted him immediately. Seeing that he wasn't a local, he frowned and asked, "Who are you? This is a case in the county government; those who are not involved should step aside."
Zheng Yi cupped his hands in greeting and said in a calm tone, "I was just passing by and overheard a few things. I have a way of dividing things that might satisfy them all."
As soon as he finished speaking, the surroundings fell silent.
The three brothers all turned to look at him.
The third son was the first to explode: "Who do you think you are! It's our family matter, what right do you have to interfere?"
Zheng Yi looked at him and said, "If you have a better idea, tell me now."
The third brother choked.
The magistrate was already quite annoyed, but seeing someone step forward, he didn't immediately send the man away. He just looked Zheng Yi up and down and asked, "You have a solution?"
"Have."
"tell me the story."
Zheng Yi walked to the middle of the crowd and first looked at the three brothers: "What you're arguing about isn't how much money you have. It's that you all feel you've contributed the most to this family and are afraid of losing the most face in the end."
The three brothers' expressions changed slightly.
The eldest brother, in particular, felt his eyelid twitch violently.
Zheng Yi continued, "Ancestral home, shop, land, cash—these seem like four things, but in reality, they represent four different ways of making a living. Guarding the home, doing business, farming—these provide a safety net. Who gets what shouldn't be determined solely by who is older, or by who argues the most."
Upon hearing this, the magistrate's previously perfunctory expression softened slightly.
The second son frowned and asked, "Then how do you suggest we divide it?"
Zheng Yi didn't answer directly, but asked instead, "Boss, do you know woodworking?"
The eldest brother paused for a moment, then said in a muffled voice, "No."
Can you do accounting?
"No, not at all."
"So what have you mainly been doing at home all these years?"
“Serve your parents, manage family affairs, worship ancestors, collect rent, repair houses, and take care of relatives.”
Zheng Yi nodded, then looked at the second son: "You know woodworking and business?"
The second brother immediately said, "I manage 80% of the work in the shop, and I also keep the accounts."
"If you leave that shop, can you start something new?"
The second son was taken aback. After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, but we need silver, timber, and regular customers."
Zheng Yi then turned to the third brother: "And you?"
The third brother stubbornly insisted, "I can farm, run errands, and guard the house. I can do anything."
What do you want most?
The third brother was taken aback by the question and blurted out, "I don't want to be mistreated."
The people around him burst into laughter.
After laughing at it, many people realized that what he said was actually quite true.
Zheng Yi looked at him and said, "To avoid being bullied, you don't rely on your words, but on having something you can hold onto in your own hands."
The third brother pursed his lips and remained silent.
The magistrate listened from the steps and suddenly realized something: "You mean, you want them to each use their strengths?"
“It’s not about giving each person the best,” Zheng Yi looked up at the magistrate. “It’s about ensuring that everything stays in the hands of the people who need it most, but without making the other two feel like they’ve been stripped of their dignity.” The magistrate’s eyes lit up: “Go on.”
Zheng Yi then said, “My method of division is very simple. The ancestral home will belong to the eldest son, but it will not be given away for free. The ancestral home is not only the root of our lineage, but also the place where the three branches of the family will worship together during festivals. When the eldest son takes the house, he must draw up a document in the government office: First, he may not sell it without permission; second, all three branches of the family may enter the house to worship their ancestors during Qingming Festival, Ghost Festival, and other festivals; third, there are two wing rooms in the backyard of the ancestral home, which are empty all year round. If either the second or third son’s family has a wedding or funeral and needs to stay temporarily in their hometown, the eldest son may not refuse.”
Upon hearing this, the onlookers immediately nodded in agreement.
That makes sense.
"We're not selling our ancestral home, and we can still hold joint ancestral rites, so we've managed to save face."
The eldest brother's expression changed several times before he finally said slowly, "...If it's just about following these rules, I'll accept it."
The second son immediately frowned: "He recognizes it quickly; the ancestral home is the most valuable thing!"
Zheng Yi looked at him: "So the shop is yours."
The second son was taken aback.
The third brother's eyes widened as well.
The second son couldn't help but ask, "Does it really belong to me?"
“It’s yours, but not for free,” Zheng Yi said. “You take the shop, along with the existing tools, stored timber, and regular customers’ ledgers. But the shop has been using the Gu family’s old brand name for years, so you can’t keep the signboard all to yourself. You have to write in the document that 10% of the shop’s net profit each year will be used for the maintenance of the ancestral home and for ancestral worship. If the shop loses money in any year, you don’t have to pay, but you have to show the accounts to your two brothers.”
Upon hearing this, the magistrate's eyes lit up completely.
“Wonderful…” he murmured to himself.
The second son's expression gradually softened.
A 10% net profit sounds like a painful sacrifice, but compared to taking the entire shop, it's not a big deal. Besides, what he feared most wasn't spending money, but rather not getting the shop into his hands.
Sure enough, he quickly replied, "If it's only 10%, and the accounts are clear, I'll accept it."
The third son panicked immediately: "What about me? He gets the ancestral home, he gets the shop, and I'm left with only twenty acres of land? Isn't this clearly making me lose out?"
Zheng Yi shook his head: "Land and cash are not divided like this."
He said slowly, "Twenty acres of land, all of it is yours."
The third brother was initially delighted, but then became wary: "And then what?"
"Eight hundred taels of silver. The eldest brother takes two hundred, the second brother takes two hundred, and the remaining four hundred is yours."
Even the third brother was stunned by these words.
The crowd buzzed with excitement and began to discuss it.
"Did the third brother get the most?"
"Add another four hundred taels to the land, that's no small amount."
The leader's face immediately darkened: "Why should I!"
The second brother narrowed his eyes: "Yeah, why does he get the most cash?"
Zheng Yi looked at the two of them: "Because what you get is something you can immediately establish yourself in. The eldest son has the ancestral home, and the second son has a shop. Only the third son, if he only gets the land, he is still the weakest one. Twenty acres of land requires oxen, crops, manpower, and winter grain. Without cash, he can't hold onto those twenty acres of land, and within two years he will have to sell it to one of you at a low price. At that time, today's fight will have been for nothing."
The third brother stood there, mouth agape, stunned.
Zheng Yi added, “Giving him four hundred taels is not to favor him, but to ensure he can truly hold onto this family business. He can buy cattle, repair field ridges, hire day laborers, and keep enough food for himself. This way, all three branches of the family will have a way to make a living and won’t have to rely on others anymore.”
The magistrate couldn't help but slam his hand on the railing: "Yes!"
The shout was so loud that it startled the clerk standing nearby.
Zheng Yi didn't stop: "There's one last thing. The third son won't take the land and four hundred taels for nothing. The twenty acres of land outside Gujiacheng are next to the river and close to the ancestral graves. In the future, the repair of the ancestral graves, the clearing of the ditches and the procurement of sacrificial animals for the spring and autumn sacrifices will be handled by the third son, and the money will be shared from the third branch's public funds. In this way, the third son will take more, and others will have an explanation."
The surroundings fell silent for a few moments.
Then, a low murmur of admiration arose.
"This division is comprehensive."
"The ancestral home, shops, land, and cash were all given away for nothing."
"Whoever takes more money should take on more responsibility, and that's more acceptable to them."
That makes sense.
The eldest, second, and third brothers stood still, their expressions changing.
No one got the full advantage.
But no one felt like they had been stabbed in the back like they had just experienced.
The magistrate, seizing the opportunity, immediately spoke up: "Gu brothers, in my opinion, this gentleman's method of division is the most reasonable. If you are still not satisfied, I will enforce the law and make a judgment. Then none of you will be allowed to cry foul!"
The eldest brother gritted his teeth first, and after a long while, said in a low voice: "The ancestral home belongs to me, and I will write down the rules for joint worship and living together."
The second son's eyes flickered a few times, and he nodded: "Give me the shop, and I'll take 10% of the net profit as public funds."
The third brother looked at his two older brothers, then at Zheng Yi, and after a long silence, suddenly said, "After we get those four hundred taels of silver, no one is allowed to use our parents to pressure me into spending more."
The eldest brother immediately glared at him: "How dare you talk like that!"
Zheng Yi said calmly, "This sentence can also be written into the document. The three branches have been divided and each is engaged in their own business. Except for public expenses and ancestral sacrifices, no branch may extort money from the other branches in the name of filial piety or human feelings."
The third brother's eyes lit up: "That's great! I'll go get it too!"
The people around immediately burst into laughter.
The magistrate was also taken aback, then couldn't help but shake his head with a smile: "You, the youngest, are quite straightforward."
The third brother snorted, but didn't explode again.
The magistrate immediately said to his clerk, "What are you all standing there for! Write it down! Write it all down! Write out the documents for me in great detail, line by line, so they won't come back to argue later!"
The clerk quickly responded, picked up the documents, and went to grind ink on the stone table to the side.
The three brothers were also called over, and each of them pressed their fingerprints to fill in the details.
The onlookers, seeing that the commotion had come to a conclusion, were reluctant to leave and continued to discuss it. Clearly, this division of the family property was far more sophisticated than the petty family squabbles they usually witnessed.
Zhou Xiaoliu leaned closer to Zheng Yi and whispered, "Boss, your brain is really something... you can even divide things up so perfectly. I thought just now that we should just demolish the house, sell the shops, and split the money among ourselves."
Zheng Yi watched the three brothers arguing over the last few minor details at the table and said calmly, "Selling everything is a good thing, but that's not called dividing the family property, that's called squandering it."
Zhou Xiaoliu clicked his tongue: "That's true. If they really sell out, they won't argue today, but they'll probably start arguing again tomorrow."
Xu Chuan said in a deep voice from the side, "The good thing about this method is that they will still have to rely on themselves to make a living in the future. It's not like they just take the money and leave."
Zheng Yi glanced at Xu Chuan and nodded.
On the steps, the magistrate's initial headache had turned into a relaxed expression.
After the document was written and the three brothers had all pressed their fingerprints, he personally took it and read it through. He then had the three brothers repeat it in front of everyone to confirm that it was correct before he slammed the gavel down heavily.
"Very well! The division of the Gu family property case ends here! Anyone who tries to bring up the division of property today in the future will be punished with this document!"
The three brothers bowed their heads in unison: "Yes." (End of Chapter)