171: Chapter 171 Brilliant! Little Wei's admiration for Lu Jia

"Indeed."

The Shi Zhang also spoke up for Lu Jia, saying, "This time, the Zhang and Wu families had a massive brawl. Everyone from eighty-year-olds down to six-year-olds got involved in the fight."

"The scene was incredibly chaotic at the time."

"There were shouts of 'Back off, back off, back off!'..."

"People from both sides were jumping around, gesticulating wildly and yelling, 'It's all your fault, it's all your fault!'..."

"And also, 'Stop fighting, please stop fighting!'..."

"If Scholar Lu hadn't gone to persuade both families, they would still be fighting."

"Sigh!"

The Shi Zhang let out a sigh and said, "I don't know how many times I tried to mediate their conflict, but all I got for my trouble was being double-teamed by both families."

At this point, the Shi Zhang had a look of grievance on his face.

Others saw him as a Shi Zhang and thought he looked quite imposing.

But there were countless neighborhood disputes that he, as the Shi Zhang, had to handle.

There were cases where oxen ate someone's bean sprouts, or raised chickens and ducks ate seeds someone had buried in the ground.

To retaliate against the poultry owner, someone would coat the seeds with poison. After the chickens and ducks ate the poisoned seeds, they would die right there in the fields.

Naturally, the poultry owner wouldn't let it go and would seek compensation from the landowner who poisoned the seeds.

The landowner, of course, wouldn't pay. 'Who told your chickens to wander into my field and steal the seeds from my soil? You got what you deserved!'

Both sides would then end up in a brawl.

Then there were those who stole mulberry leaves.

These mulberry leaves were primarily used for raising silkworms.

The silk produced by these silkworms was made into silk fabric, a luxury item for the nobility and extremely valuable.

Mulberry leaves might not be worth much to modern people, but for the ancients, they were a vital resource!

Consequently, throughout history, disputes over mulberry leaves even led to the famous War of the Mulberry Leaves.

This was also why stealing mulberry leaves incurred heavy fines.

According to the qin law: if someone steals another's mulberry leaves and the value of the stolen goods does not exceed one qian, they are sentenced to thirty days of hard labor.

If the value is between one qian and two hundred and twenty qian, they must be exiled from their hometown.

If the value is between two hundred and twenty and six hundred and sixty qian, the offender's face will be tattooed and inked, and they must perform hard labor.

If the value exceeds six hundred and sixty qian, their nose will be cut off, their face tattooed, and they will be sentenced to hard labor.

After Zhao Fusu abolished corporal punishment, he replaced it with restitution.

If someone stole mulberry leaves to sell and didn't pay the restitution, they would go to prison.

And going to prison didn't mean the debt vanished.

They would work while in prison to pay off their debt.

They could only be released once the money was fully repaid.

During their imprisonment, the cost of their meals would also be deducted from their earnings.

This meant they not only had to repay the victim but also use their earned wages to cover their own food expenses.

As a result, their prison sentence would last even longer.

This was what it meant to 'rot in jail for stealing mulberry leaves!'

Therefore, Zhao Fusu believed that if a transmigrator were to travel to ancient times, they should definitely avoid stealing mulberry leaves.

"The Zhang family."

"The Wu family."

"Are they the two families that run the mill?"

After the Shi Zhang mentioned these two families, a look of confusion appeared on Xiao Weizi's face.

He asked, "Shi Zhang, I recall those two families were on quite good terms. How did a conflict arise that led to a massive brawl?"

Both the Zhang and Wu families were flourishing, with many men.

In the countryside, having many men meant being relatively powerful within the village.

The village mill was a significant economic industry.

The management rights of the mill were monopolized by the two families.

Originally, the two families took turns managing it year by year, and they had lived in peace for many years.

Xiao Weizi didn't understand how their originally good relationship had deteriorated so sharply that the entire clans were now ready to fight to the death.

The Shi Zhang said, "The dispute between these two families stems from a conflict of interest."

"Ever since grain could be bought and sold, those with surplus grain have been bringing it to the mill for processing, which has significantly increased the mill's revenue."

"The Wu family became unwilling to hand over the management rights of the mill."

"The Zhang family went to confront the Wu family, demanding they follow the decades-old agreement and hand over the management rights, or else they would go to war."

"The Wu family was unwilling to give up the profitable mill, especially with the autumn harvest approaching. At that time, many people would surely bring their grain to the mill for processing."

"The Zhang family also wanted to take back the mill early to make a profit during the autumn harvest."

"So, the two families went to war over their interests."

The Shi Zhang sighed, "I wanted to stop the fighting, but I ended up being beaten by both families combined."

Lu Jia shook his head and said, "The two families were afraid you would seize the mill, so naturally, they joined forces to beat you."

The Shi Zhang: "..."

"Actually, I never thought about seizing the mill."

Lu Jia said, "Even if you didn't think about it, don't you have the strength to do so?"

"If the two families wanted to ensure the mill wasn't taken, they had to unite to protect it."

Xiao Weizi couldn't help but glance at Lu Jia.

He realized that Lu Jia was indeed an eloquent and persuasive individual.

Furthermore, this man had a quick mind, extraordinary knowledge, and was extremely intelligent.

Xiao Weizi also understood why the Shi Zhang was willing to risk his life to vouch for Lu Jia.

This man truly had the ability!

"How was the conflict between the two families eventually resolved?"

Xiao Weizi grew curious. He looked at the Shi Zhang and then at Lu Jia, eager to know how Lu Jia had mediated between the two clans.

Lu Jia smiled and said, "The method was simple. I told both the Zhang and Wu families separately that the Shi Zhang intended to seize the management rights of the mill."

"I told them that if they continued their constant disputes and mutual attacks, the only result would be their strength being exhausted in the fight, essentially handing the mill to the Shi Zhang on a silver platter."

"The more viciously they fought, the easier it would be for the Shi Zhang to take the mill."

"And so, the Wu and Zhang families made peace."

"Brilliant!"

When Xiao Weizi heard Lu Jia's method, his eyes lit up.

After learning about the brawl between the Wu and Zhang families over the mill, he had also wondered how to resolve their conflict.

But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't come up with a good solution.

Since ancient times, conflicts of interest have always been the most ruthless.

Even brothers might stab each other in the back over interests, let alone two clans.

In such a conflict, anyone who takes a step back is at a disadvantage.

The saying 'endure for a moment to find calm, take a step back to find a vast horizon' simply didn't apply here.

One would only get angrier the more they thought about it.

The brilliance of Lu Jia's persuasion lay in the fact that while the Wu and Zhang families were originally fighting incessantly, it was only the two of them competing for the mill.

But now that the Shi Zhang, whose strength surpassed either of theirs, was involved, the two families realized they might fight to the end only to lose everything, failing to secure the mill and instead letting the Shi Zhang swoop in and take it.

How could they possibly tolerate such a 'tower-stealing' move?

Thus, to protect the mill and their existing interests, they had no choice but to make peace and maintain their alliance to oppose the Shi Zhang!

Xiao Weizi was deeply impressed by Lu Jia.