Original subtitles

[English subtitles are available]

[Under the Microscope]

[Episode 10]

Slow down.

I have to finish eating quickly.

I have to accompany Shuai this afternoon.

Baoyu,

the case...

regarding the Silk Poll Tax,

let's not get involved.

I have thought it through.

We don't need fame

or reputation.

Let's just be down-to-earth,

live our lives honestly,

and you just live your best life as a rich family's son.

Just go and play,

have fun, and spend money.

Don't you like gambling?

You tell me,

where is the biggest and the best casino?

The best one is of course in the provincial capital.

Go to the provincial capital now.

Fengcheng.

Prepare money and horses for Young Master.

OK.

No need.

I am not gambling anymore.

Not gambling anymore?

Then what have you been up to?

If you want to study,

I will do my best to help you.

Study...

I recall its name now.

It is called the Complete Works of the Silk Event.

That book was written by your father.

I happened to have read it.

Oh yes.

[Renhua]

Get out of the way!

Move!

Master Fan,

everyone,

you are finally here.

Sorry for being late.

Have a seat.

Come on in, please.

Have a seat.

Master Fan, please.

Since Master Fan is late,

you will have to drink three glasses as a punishment.

I dare not.

I will drink it on behalf of Master Fan

I will drink it.

How about this?

I will propose a toast to all of you.

Come.

My nephew.

Uncle Fan.

Brother Cheng, why didn't you join us?

I heard you are a widow now.

How long has it been since Yun Niang passed away?

Seven years.

Since ancient times, beautiful women are like generals.

They don't let this world witness them age and grow old.

You can consider her an unlucky person.

After this matter is settled,

let me know where she is buried.

I will go and pay my respects too,

and reminisce about our relationship back then.

You dare!

I mean friendship.

What are you thinking?

Although she was blind

to choose you,

I don't hold a grudge at all.

You hold a grudge?

Don't you feel ashamed?

We should be the ones to hold a grudge.

If your father had not

used dirty tricks in the examination hall,

I am afraid

the roles would have switched here.

Cheng Renqing,

I came to propose a toast to you.

How dare you

slander my father and I?

The whole academy knew about it.

You don't need to be

pretending otherwise.

Yun Niang

saw through all the scheming thoughts

of your Ma family.

That is why she chose me.

You are a lawyer.

Don't you know you need evidence

before you say anything?

Putting aside the fact that I am a prosecutor,

even the normal citizens,

cannot be accusing others of their innocence without evidence.

Besides,

you have been famous all these years.

As someone who receives compensation

for the corresponding amount of justice that you serve,

you still have the nerve to say something like that?

Others may be scheming.

But if Yun Niang knew that the man she married

is such a loser,

isn't it much better to be my concubine?

Brother Cheng.

Take a seat.

I was being inappropriate just now.

Sit down.

Okay.

Fill it up. Come.

This third cup,

let's drink it together.

Okay.

Come.

Come on.

Come on. Okay.

To Master Fan.

Come on.

Let's eat.

Okay. Come on.

Not sure if you have

read Buddhist scriptures?

According to the Buddhist scriptures,

after people die,

some will be reincarnated into humans,

while some reincarnate into being beasts,

and then lead different lives from thereon.

In my opinion,

when we are alive as humans,

it is the same.

Every obstacle that we cross,

is no different from a reincarnation.

What do you mean?

I have to admit that

you were indeed much more talented

than I was back then.

You looked better too.

It is understandable why Yun Niang chose you.

But since that incident during the examination,

our encounters have became very different.

It is almost as different as reincarnation.

I was reincarnated as a human,

but you became a beast.

Since you have become a beast,

you have to live as a beast.

If a dog

has the character of a man,

how terrible it must feel

when you are eating shit.

Ma Wencai!

Think carefully!

Among fame and fortune,

you have lost your fame.

If you smash the cup,

I am afraid your fortune will also be in vain.

Yun Niang died early.

Think about what you have left.

I need still need you

to be at the frontline this afternoon.

You must eat well.

[Jin'an Prefectural Office]

Prefect Huang,

due to the large number of tax and labor records,

our county is providing

a summary book of the accounts instead.

My staff only had time to

copy up till the first mile from

Lanxi County's white books of tax and labor.

It doesn't matter.

Labor has always been measured

in the unit of a mile.

110 households per mile.

Knowing this

is enough for me.

That's good.

Shuai Jiamo,

please begin.

The Silk Poll Tax

was originally established in the ninth year of the Chenghua reign,

to be supplemented by the Jin'an Prefecture.

The supplement of 6,000 horses

was to be shared equally across 8 provinces.

In the 16th year of the Chenghua reign,

it was changed to the Silk Poll Tax,

and it became the sole responsibility of Renhua County.

To prove the connection between these two cases,

is simple.

As long as we find the tax accounts of the other seven counties

other than Renhua,

during the Chenghua reign,

and investigate any instances of increase or decrease,

the results will be obvious.

Everyone knows all of this.

However, the ledgers were all burned.

Yet you insist on

taking these records

and add to the chaos?

During the Jiajing reign 10 years ago,

the summer tax of Fengxing

required the mobilization of labor

and have the people transport the goods themselves.

In other words,

we can also see the amount of taxes

through these white books of tax and labor.

Shuai Jiamo,

let me remind you.

Not everyone here

is good at arithmetic

just as you are.

I think you need to

to explain in detail

in case some people don't understand,

and come complaining again.

Okay, let me give you an example.

For example, we don't know the amount of summer grains

that Renhua County needs to supplement.

But through these records,

we can find out that

Magistrate Fang mobilized

1,000 civilians for transportation this year.

As we know,

two civilians can transport five dan of grain.

The summer grains that Renhua County has to supplement

is therefore 2,500 dan in total.

In this way,

it is a lot easier to explain and understand.

Prefect Huang,

the point here is not the method,

but

what is this person's motive.

Cheng Renqing,

you are just a small lawyer.

Who allowed you to speak here?

Leave.

Does anyone else have any objections?

All is good if no one has any objections.

Shuai Jiamo, start your calculations.

[On the 11th year of the Chenghua reign, in one of the actual record books]

[1,500 pieces of silk]

[The 11th year of Chenghua, Lanxi County]

[The 16th year of Chenghua, Lanxi County]

[Wancheng]

It has been solved.

Just tell me the result.

In the ninth year of the Chenghua reign,

the Jin'an Prefecture had to supplement 6,000 bolts of silk,

and 3,530 taels of silver,

which was shared equally across the eight counties.

But since the 12th year of the Chenghua reign,

the proportion that each county is responsible for

has been changing.

What do you mean?

This is a very delicate

accounting operation.

If all taxes and duties

were suddenly transferred to Renhua County,

then the alarm will be raised immediately.

The method they used

was to progressively increase the proportion of tax

of Renhua County.

In other words,

Renhua County would pay more every year,

while the rest of the seven counties would pay less.

This was done quietly, not showing a single trace.

After four years,

Renhua County has an extra

3,530 taels of tax to pay for no reason at all.

The subject matter has also been then changed to the Silk Poll Tax.

Got it.

All right, thank you, Shuai Jiamo.

Go take a rest.

This method is really clever.

It's really boiling frogs in warm water.

No wonder.

Renhua paid

these extra taxes for no reason,

and yet remained completely unaware.

It turns out the proportion of our share

has been raised slowly over the past four years.

You see, the people

only knows that the Imperial Court has been raising taxes.

The...

The Imperial Court increasing the tax

is of course perfectly justified.

Fine.

Since the Silk Poll Tax

was a result of being tampered with,

then we should get to the bottom of this matter

and return fairness.

Inspector Liu, I think

we shouldn't rush into this.

After all,

this is an issue from more than 100 years ago.

Times have changed.

Besides, the eight counties of Jin'an now

and the eight counties of Jin'an then,

are two very different situations.

The number of households has increased.

And the number of cultivated lands

has changed a lot.

It would be unfair

if we split it equally just like how it should have been in the past.

Prefect Huang,

this is a simple problem.

I have a plan.

How about we re-measure the fields

in the eight counties of Jin'an Prefecture?

We will decide on the proportion

according to the new statistics.

Great.

Inspector Liu is so thoughtful.

This is a great proposal.

Well,

I will announce it now.

Wait.

Cheng Renqing,

what do you still want to do?

Prefect Huang.

Inspector Liu.

Magistrate Mao.

Do you know why

Shuai Jiamo is bringing up

this century-old story?

You just want to repeat the fact that

Shuai Jiamo's father

was wronged because of this,

and Shuai Jiamo is just extracting his personal revenge?

How many more times do you want to

repeat this completely unrelated accusation?

But there really was such a case.

Back then, Shuai Duncheng

was punished exactly

for this crime.

He set himself on fire in fear of being arrested.

Assistant Prefect Song.

So what?

These ledgers are real.

But...

All of you

are officials of the county.

You should know the key to such matters

is not in its fairness, but what it demonstrates.

If Shuai Jiamo

causes the whole Jin'an Prefecture

to not live in peace

because of his parents' grudges,

and he does not receives

any punishment,

what kind of role model

are we setting?

Once the precedent is made,

and if other people follow suit,

would the county offices

still have the energy to do anything else?

Nonsense!

Today, Renhua can claim that

the Silk Poll Tax is unfair

and ask for a thorough investigation.

Then tomorrow Lanxi can also say

that the tax is unbalanced and ask for it to be checked again.

And how about

Tongyang, Wujiang, Wancheng?

Try asking which county's tax

in Jin'an Prefecture

is completely fair?

If everyone demands correction,

where will we have the energy

to do other things?

Everyone,

are you really willing to

forgo Jin'an Prefecture's peace and stability at all cost,

and dig up this old account

from over a hundred years ago,

just for this arithmetic nut's selfishness?

Cheng Renqing.

Are you

threatening Prefect Huang?

I dare not.

I just want to remind everyone

to be reasonable and righteous.

In which, common sense comes first.

The public interest's

only ranks fourth.

Cheng Renqing,

you are always smooth talking here.

Come!

Get him out of here!

Wait, Prefect Huang.

I have something in mind that

I don't know if I should say it or not.

Commander Ma,

this is a civil affair.

You can just sit and listen.

Must we all voice our

opinion on this?

Civil affairs?

I don't think so.

I heard from Shuai Jiamo that

the origin of this Poll Silk Tax is due to

the provisions of supplements to prepare against the Japanese, right?

Yes.

The Jinqu Armed Forces

was established in the 45th year of Jiajing.

Our scope of work

also includes preparing ourselves against the Japanese.

Jin'an, Bizhou and other places

are still providing these supplements.

Since the Silk Poll Tax

arose from the need to provide these supplements,

then the Army should

naturally be allowed to voice our opinion.

Military affairs interfering with civil affairs,

is a big taboo of the Imperial Court.

Aren't you afraid of being impeached

by doing so?

Inspector Liu,

you call me Commander Ma,

but do you know

what comes in front?

Fengxing District Attorney's Office.

That's right.

Although I am in charge of the Jinqu Armed Forces,

but I am still the Chief Prosecutor.

So, it is also within my duty

to investigate and ban corruption.

You are also an inspector.

Don't you understand that?

Well...

Fine.

But,

I have something to say.

Feel free to say it.

Whether it will be accepted or not,

it is up to Prefect Huang.

After listening to the trial for so long,

I suddenly remembered something.

In the end of the Qin dynasty,

there was a great rise in the number of heroes.

The most powerful one

is the King of Xichu, Xiang Yu.

The most insignificant

is the bumpkin Liu Bang.

Xiang Yu burned all bridges in the Battle of Julu

and defeated Qin's General Zhang Han.

Liu Bang instead

took this opportunity

to attack Guanzhong

and occupied Xianyang.

Liu Bang is a bumpkin,

and so are all is men,

who are just hooligans from Pei County.

They have never seen

a city that is as splendid as Xianyang.

So they enjoyed

wealth and prosperity to its fullest.

Only one of them

is an exception.

This person is Xiao He.

Xiao He didn't go to rob the gold, silver and jewelry,

or the satin and silk.

The first thing he did in Xianyang

was to go to the archives in Xianyang

and collected all the documents on taxes,

and household registration.

These documents contain

information on 13 different aspects

across the 36 counties of Qin.

Strong men, livestock,

fields and storage.

After the Hongmen banquet,

Liu Bang was forced to go to Hanzhong.

He did not take with him

any valuable items,

but only brought with him these documents.

It is only thanks to these documents

that Liu Bang knew the reality of the world.

He knew the amount of civilians,

which enabled him to make plan strategically

during the battle of Chu Han,

and win the battle.

They had a bigger vision to rule the world,

and therefore Emperor Gaozu of Han gave Xiao He the biggest credit.

Commander Ma,

we are not sitting here

to listen to your storytelling.

What I want to say is

if a politician wants to achieve anything,

he must first master the numbers.

Given that the Imperial Court wants to refresh its politics,

if Jin'an can reset the taxes,

clear and measure the fields,

this is actually the perfect timing,

which is also aligned with the general public's opinion.

To worry about the interests of the nation first and foremost,

our Army will

definitely support you.

Are you done, Commander Ma?

Yes.

If either both of you

ever requires the help of our Army,

just let me know.

I will be more than happy to help.

Even so,

when we report it to the Imperial Court,

given your current capcity,

we cannot put your name down as a co-signatory.

As long as it's good for the Imperial Court,

and the locals,

why would I

grab onto this credit?

However,

let me make this clear.

If the both of you

does anything

that is not beneficial for the country,

I would not hesitate

to impeach any of you.

Well,

do the both of you

still have any thoughts?

It's my duty

to be of service to the people.

Magistrate Mao,

what about you?

Since everyone agrees,

Lanxi County

will also agree.

Very well. I hereby announce

three days later,

the eight counties of Jin'an

are to measure their fields again,

in preparation of the restoration

of the old Silk Poll Tax policy.

All county governors and households

are to make arrangements well in advance.

Prefect Huang,

what should we do with this lawyer?

What do you think, Commander Ma?

This person has been

sowing discord from the beginning.

Whatever it means to be righteous

and reasonable.

It is just an excuse

for you to make money.

Everyone heard it just now.

Shuai Jiaomo has proven

the injustice of the Silk Poll Tax.

He even dug up people's secrets for his personal gain

and attacked Shuai Jiamo's past.

He even threatened the stability

of Jin'an Prefectural Office.

I am afraid the ethos of Jin'an Prefectural Office

is ruined by this kind of people.

Commander Ma is right.

I also think there is something wrong with him.

Magistrate Mao.

Is Cheng Renqing

your legal advisor?

Of course not.

He is just a lawyer

with tricks up his sleeves.

I see.

I hereby announce that

Cheng Renqing is guilty of

spreading false rumors to deceive the public and provoke lawsuits.

Take him out and cane him ten times.

He will be expelled from the county academy,

and detained back to Lanxi to reflect on himself.

From now on,

he will not be allowed to enter the county or prefecture offices

as a lawyer.

You and Master Fan

had already discussed earlier this afternoon,

but you still want me to object.

It has been awhile since

I have seen you make an impassioned speech

just like you did back in the academy.

I really missed it.

To be honest,

during that examination,

my father's plan

was just for me to

to take your top spot away.

I was the one who got someone to put a note

into your bag,

and have it found by the invigilator on purpose.

In this way,

you won't even have a chance

to start over.

If you trample on someone you hate,

you have to trample on them entirely.

If Yun Niang knew

the man she chose

is such a good-for-nothing,

she probably won't be able to rest in peace, right?

Hit him two more times.

Hurry up.

Cheng Yuan.

Slow down.

The bumpy ride hurts after the caning.

Mr. Cheng.

The old Mr. Li of the Lanxi Archives

is dead.

Dead?

I just got the news that

that Mr. Li committed suicide

by hanging himself in the prison.

He even left a suicide note.

He said that the fire in the archives

was actually set off by him by accident.

He was afraid of taking the responsibility,

that's why he pushed it to

Shuai and Feng.

That sounds more reasonable.

This arson case

is finally closed.

There are no more pitfalls.

As to whether he really committed suicide,

no one cares.

What do you think?

No.

What's wrong?

We have reached so soon?

[Grand Master's Office]

Master Fan,

I have let you down.

I'm ashamed.

Lawyer Cheng,

you have a mistress in Renhua County

named Feng Biyu, right?

Miss Feng and I

are clean and honest.

Please don't

to ruin her reputation.

I heard that a few days ago,

you came to Renhua County

and went to find Feng Biyu.

If there's no personal relationship,

why are you looking for her?

Feng's shop is well-known far and wide.

Why can't I go?

But that night,

Feng Biyu went to find Fang Maozhen.

Later,

Fang Maozhen suddenly

took the tickets to the Jin'an Prefectural Office for no reason.

That's why

there was so much trouble afterwards.

The most important fact

is that you

saved Shun and Feng

in the Lanxi Archives fire.

Am I right?

There's a fire!

Put out the fire!

Fire!

Sir.

Someone is here.

Let's go.

Somebody please!

You are a smart man.

A common shortcoming among smart people

is that

they always think they are the smartest.

If someone goes overboard,

they will be punished by the heavens.

To be reasonable

and righteous.

This is your favorite line.

Rationality is more important than humanity,

while humanity supersedes righteousness.

What a pity.

[Grand Master's Office]

Well,

having you here these few days

to apply this ointment for me,

I am feeling much better now.

This ointment belongs to Biyu.

This technique

is the same technique she uses to cure the ham.

It is very useful.

I see, so this is Miss Feng's ointment.

Shuai Jiamo.

I said you wanted to avenge your parents.

You still won't admit it?

Such a big three thousand five hundred and thirty

[3530]

painted right there on the wall.

There is just a mistake in the Silk Poll Tax.

No hatred.

I treated you so terribly

in court the last time.

Why did you save me?

Because a lot of what you said

is wrong.

I want to make it clear to you.

Dummy.

What a dummy.

To be honest,

I always thought

everyone in this world

will abide by the principle of being reasonable and righteous.

being reasonable and righteous.

But only on you,

this principle does not work.

I don't understand.

Trying to talk to you is useless.

We are

are not at the same level at all.

But now,

you are the only one

who is willing to talk to a loser like me.

Be gentle.

What happened tonight?

What a big scene.

My father once taught me

a technique to measure the fields.

It is called the Art of Gathering Projected Steps.

He taught me the formula when I was young.

Unfortunately, I can't remember.

My father was a military officer.

I was taught

to work hard and be the best.

To hone my will,

I have been practicing martial arts since I was young.

Because of my father's strictness,

I was full of enthusiasm,

and determined to enter the academy.

His voice would reverberate within the academy,

"To learn from past lessons,

to bring peace to the world,

to help save the world,

and sweep out the ills of our time."

The key

to the Art of Gathering Projected Steps,

lies in the intersection of latitude and longitude,

and marking the original.

It was also at that time

when I got to know

the academy principal's daughter, Yue Niang.

We loved each other.

First pull out the latitudes and longitudes, then measure the original.

After marrying Yun Niang,

my life with her

was poor,

but those times

were so beautiful.

Yun Niang spent all her savings

to buy me a horse,

so that I could get around more conveniently.

She named it

Cloud.

I was going to

to participate in the examination in the second year,

get first place,

and let Yun Niang live a good life.

However,

Ma Wencai sabotaged me.

Measure the topography first,

then estimate the number of steps.

Fortunately, I have Yun Niang by my side.

She would not leave me.

But one could not predict the future.

Yun Niang suddenly got seriously ill,

and we had spent all our savings.

One day,

my classmate asked me to write a complaint for him.

I really didn't have any more money to buy medicine for Yun Niang.

So I reluctantly agreed.

The reward was really generous.

But God is merciless.

Yun Niang's illness...

was too much to recover from.

She still couldn't make it.

No, she didn't.

As white clouds float in the sky,

it has no roots underneath or anything else by its sides.

Time does not tell when it turns into rain,

it is most pitiful because it has no control over its heart.

This Hongchuan River

can yield at least

a few hundred acres of fertile land

if we just irrigate it slightly.

Exactly.

I just wonder how much money it will cost.

Yes.

If we apportion it out,

the people will be burdened again.

Chief Bookkeeper Ren!

Chief Bookkeeper Ren!

Get down.

It's me.

Let him come here.

Chief Bookkeeper Ren,

I finally found you.

I am busy with work.

If there is anything, let's talk back at the county office.

No.

Please tell me

all about the Complete Works of the Silk Event.

Go back to work.

Yes.

Regarding this Silk Poll Tax case,

I am your enemy and not your friend.

I have my position to take.

If you really want to help him,

persuade him to forget about this immediately.

Chief Bookkeeper Ren,

what did you tell me

was the important thing in life?

Fame and fortune

are just worldly possessions.

Being happy

is the most important thing.

But if a person

forgets even their parents,

tell me,

how can he live happily?

Chief Bookkeeper Ren, you may not know,

but the reason Shuai keeps solving problems

and calculating every day,

is simply because he is trying to recall

his parents.

Did he really say that?

He never told me this.

But I can see that

he must really miss them,

after losing his parents at seven.

He misses them very much.

If they had left something behind,

he could still have a memento for memory's sake.

But that fire

destroyed everything in its path.

How could he recall?

He can only recall

some memories

by calculating non-stop.

That's true.

So you knew.

I just heard.

Feng Baoyu,

you are really doing your best

for Shuai Jiamo.

Because Shuai is a good brother that

I can rely on.

Emergency report from Jin'an Prefectural Office!

Emergency report from Jin'an Prefectural Office.

[With immediate effect, the eight counties under the jurisdiction of Jin'an are to remeasure and reformulate all cultivated land.]

I knew it.

Good plan.

This time,

the whole of Jin'an

will be in chaos.

[Counties to be aware of what is on the right]

Jin'an Prefectural Office officially orders that

in consideration of

the repeated disputes over the Silk Poll Tax,

in order to tally fairly,

from today onwards,

the eight counties under Jin'an's jurisdiction,

are to remeasure all cultivated land,

and reformulate the number of land.

All the county officials, civil servants, civilians,

must be prudent in their actions and be careful when calculating.

This shall not be delayed.

One would be wrong to think that

one can complete this task perfunctorily within a single move.

What does this mean?

What does it mean?