In fact, all the precious gemstone fragments that had been cleaned up in the Angi family's gemstone store were originally the waste products that had been damaged during the production process, as well as the small residues left after the production. These waste products and residues were already waste products, so naturally, they were worthless. However, when the loss was estimated, it was estimated based on the price of intact jewelry and raw gemstones. After all, the store had been smashed by more than 30 people. Who could prove that these gemstone fragments and residues were originally placed here and not broken by these 30 people?
When quietly placing these waste products and residues, the shopkeeper of the Angi family was also very shrewd. He did not directly place the waste products in conspicuous places, but scattered them in the corners and at the bottom of the shelves. In this way, when they first entered the store, no one would notice these. After a group of people smashed them, these precious gemstone fragments naturally mixed with the ordinary gemstone fragments that had been smashed, so no one could be sure that these were originally there.
In addition, in order to prevent being exposed, the shopkeeper of the Angi family secretly placed all the precious gemstone fragments here. The quantity was not too much. Otherwise, if the bottom of each shelf was full of gemstone fragments, it would be too obvious. Even a fool would be able to see that there was a problem.
When they heard the prices of the gemstone merchants, everyone at the scene was stunned. The petty official in charge of handling the case could no longer sit still and directly jumped up from his chair. He always felt that something was wrong. How could an old man like him not see that there was something fishy about this? However, he would not say anything. He just carefully listened to the gemstone merchants in charge of the appraisal and picked up a piece of gemstone fragments from time to time.
"Gold-green gemstones, such a small pile. If they were not smashed, they should be as big as an egg. I remember that last time, a rich man in the city bought a piece of gold-green gemstone that was only as big as an egg yolk for his wife. He spent a total of 30 gold pieces. The price of this piece should be at least 100 gold pieces!"
The petty official said as he played with the gemstone fragments.
Although he was only a petty official, his knowledge was quite extraordinary. He could quickly know all kinds of things that happened in the city. Naturally, he was more knowledgeable. He could recognize many things, and this gold-green gemstone was one of them. He knew the great value of this gold-green gemstone, but he also knew that such a pile of gold-green gemstone fragments might not be a complete gemstone that was smashed. It could also be a few small pieces. In this way, the value of the gemstone would be greatly reduced. If these were the dregs of the finished product, then the value would be almost zero. The petty official was not sure what the situation was, but with his social experience, the shopkeeper of the Angi Family must have guessed that his shop was going to be smashed. So, why didn't he remove such precious gemstones? Why did he continue to leave them on this dangerous shelf? Even during normal business hours, precious gemstones should not be placed on ordinary shelves. They should be kept in a special dark room at the back. Only when distinguished guests came would these gemstones be taken out for selection.
In short, the petty official could see that the shopkeeper of the Angi Family was a more scheming person. He had hidden the precious gemstones long ago. In this way, the pile of gold-green gemstone fragments might be the dregs left in the process of the finished product. They were secretly placed on the shelf by the shopkeeper of the Angi Family. They were not smashed by this group of irrational people at all. They just did this to blackmail the shopkeeper of the Angi Family.
The shopkeeper of the Angi Family had already made a lot of money by buying seven properties before. Now, he wanted to take advantage of the seller's unbalanced mentality to make a lot of money again. This was really too ruthless. Understanding all this, the petty official could not help but shiver. Although he felt that he had understood everything, he would not speak out his guess. Not only because there was no evidence, but also because he wanted to take the opportunity to get more benefits. As long as he told the shopkeeper of the Angi Family his guess, he believed that the shopkeeper of the Angi Family would know what to do. He had already gotten a lot of benefits, so he did not mind getting a bigger benefit.
After all, their minds were blank. They smashed everything they saw with all their might. As for how many gems they smashed, what kind of gems they smashed, and whether they were precious gems or not, they didn't know. With a kick, the shelf collapsed, and the hundreds and thousands of jewelry shattered. They only cared about venting their anger, so how could they have the time to think about the quality of the jewelry they smashed and how much it was worth.
The petty official sighed, continued to pick up a handful of fragments, and said, "What is this pile?"
"Sir, Green Curtain Stone, Green Curtain Stone."
A jewelry merchant next to him said.
The petty official nodded and said, "I've forgotten the name of this gemstone, but I've seen it before. Last year, a rich family was robbed, and among the stolen gemstones, there was this kind of Green Curtain Stone. I heard from that family that one piece of Green Curtain Stone was worth fifteen gold, but that piece of Green Curtain Stone was not worth that much. This piece is naturally more valuable. "
"Oh, what kind of gemstones is this pile? I've never seen it before, and what are these …"
The petty official had plenty of time. He asked a bunch of questions until he understood all the gemstones. Only then did he nod in satisfaction.
"Not bad, not bad. Your estimates are not too far off, but there are so many of them. It's hard to confirm who smashed which gemstone. So, we should share the loss equally. Yes, that's right, we should share it equally."
The petty official nodded and said.
He was just saying it in advance. As for how to share the loss, he really couldn't make the decision as a petty official.
The soldier next to him said, "Brother, they have more than 30 people and are divided into seven families. Are they going to split the losses according to the seven families or according to the number of people? If they split the losses according to the number of people, some of them are underage children. How could they have the money to share the losses?"
The petty official frowned and scolded with a smile, "These are things that the county magistrate needs to consider. You're just a soldier, why are you thinking about these things?"
The soldier smiled awkwardly, but in his heart, he thought that the petty official was thinking too much.
When they heard that they had to share the loss of the Angi family's shop, more than thirty people who participated in the robbery were all frightened. The amount of loss was too high. Even if they sold themselves, they wouldn't be able to afford it. This made them feel very desperate, but these gemstones were indeed smashed by them. How could they not pay for it after smashing other people's things? If they really didn't pay for it, they could only go to jail, and no one would be willing to go to jail.
"Sir, I was angry and confused for a moment!"
"Sir, I know I was wrong."
"Sir …"
More than thirty people immediately regretted it and began to find all kinds of excuses for themselves, hoping that the petty official could let them go.
Some people even wanted to take the opportunity to run away. Of course, there were seventy or eighty officials on the scene to maintain order. How could they run away? In the end, they were naturally stopped and punished.
"Okay, don't cry for your parents. You're the one who smashed the things. You've had your fun. It's time to take responsibility."
The petty official sneered and asked his subordinates to take all the people back to the county government prison, ready to hand them over to the county magistrate.
North City was a county city in the Pyu Dynasty. There was a city lord in the city, which was equivalent to the provincial governor of the Tang dynasty. However, there was also a county magistrate, who was responsible for the security and all kinds of sundries in the city. The city lord was not only responsible for North City, but also for the other counties nearby.
After asking his subordinates to take all the people who participated in the smashing back to the county government, the petty official did not rush back. Instead, he took a few of his subordinates to the restaurant. In the restaurant, the shopkeeper of the Angji Family was waiting for him.
Ang Lee and the others happened to be in the restaurant, which was near the Angji Family's store. Standing in the private room on the second floor, they could see everything that happened in the Angji Family's store.
Because of the distance, Li An could only see the general situation, but he was not very clear about the specific loss. But when he saw more than 30 people were arrested by the officers of the county government, Li An was still quite shocked. So many people actually went to smash the Angi family's shop. It seemed that these people were really crazy.
After the house was sold, everything was settled, but these people were not reconciled. This was a violation of the rules. Although the shopkeeper of the Angji Family did not do it properly, their house had been sold. According to the law, these houses did not belong to them. Their behavior of smashing was completely unreasonable.
Of course, if Ang Lee knew that the shopkeeper of the Angji Family had set these people up again, he would probably prepare enough sympathy for these smashers.
"As expected, these people smashed the Angji Family's store."
Ang Lee said calmly, with a great attitude of watching the fun.
"Isn't it all because of you? If you hadn't revealed the news to him earlier, this would not have happened."
Zhao Yafu said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Yes! It's all because of me. All of this is within my expectations. It also proves the greed of the human heart. The human heart is too greedy. For such a small amount of benefits, it actually went crazy. "
Everything was caused by benefits. Why did people pay attention to benefits? Naturally, it was because the rich people's lives were better and they could get a lot of things they wanted. The poor people's lives were always so difficult. People had many ideals and wishes, and most of them needed a lot of money to support. Without money, many wishes could not be achieved. They could only be trapped in a small place for a lifetime.
Soon, the petty official walked into the restaurant and came to the private room where the shopkeeper of the Angji Family was.
"Sir, thank you for today. Thank you very much. Please come in."
The shopkeeper of the Angji Family said enthusiastically.
The petty official sneered slightly and said, "You are so cruel! You set them up with so much waste. They have already suffered a big loss by selling the house to you. Now, you set them up again. I don't think there are many people who are so cruel. "
After that, he looked at the shopkeeper of the Angji Family and observed his every move.
The shopkeeper of the Angji Family was slightly stunned and said casually, "Sir, how can this be a trap? These scraps became scraps because they were smashed by them. These were all genuine gems before! This time, our Angji Family suffered a big loss. So many gems were destroyed. If they can't compensate in full, I can't explain it to the family. "
The petty official sneered and said, "You know very well whether it was originally a waste or was smashed by someone. It's not like the county yamen can't find out. However, it depends on what the county magistrate thinks."
After that, he looked up at the roof, looking quite leisurely.
The shopkeeper of the Angji Family naturally understood the petty official's meaning. He quickly said, "Sir, how about this number?"
After that, he reached out and gave a number.
The petty official smiled disdainfully and said, "Are you kidding me? You have already made a lot of money when you bought the house yesterday. Now you can only get these benefits with the help of the county magistrate. You can only give so little. Do you really think that the county magistrate can't figure out your little tricks? The county magistrate is the county magistrate. Nothing can be hidden from him. At least 60% of it must be handed over to the county government. Otherwise, the county magistrate will charge you with disturbing the market. You can't bear the consequences. "
Obviously, this was the petty official's threatening words. He also saw so much wealth, so he suddenly opened his mouth and was ready to take a big bite. He said that the county magistrate should give all the benefits to the county magistrate. In fact, he wanted to take the biggest share and give the county magistrate a small part in the end.
When the shopkeeper of the Angji Family heard the petty official threatening him, he was shocked. However, he soon calmed down.
"Sir, you don't have to scare me. Yesterday, only I knew in advance that the price of the house would increase. Everyone else was kept in the dark. Do you know why?"
The shopkeeper of the Angji Family said.
The petty official said coldly, "Why?"
The shopkeeper of the Angji Family said, "Sir, you should know that the troops of the Tang Dynasty entered Beicheng City yesterday. In addition, you should also know that my Angji Family has an excellent quality mineral vein. Half of the benefits of this mineral vein must be handed over to the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty. Even more, there are still more than 2,000 soldiers of the Tang Dynasty stationed in my Angji Family's territory. Even the 3,000 soldiers of the Tang Dynasty nearby were transferred from the Angji Family."
Hearing this, the petty official was shocked and hurriedly said, "Did the senior officials of the Tang Dynasty tell you the news? This …"
The shopkeeper of the Angji Family nodded and looked down at the petty official of Beicheng City with confidence.
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