Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 374 - 210: Family Rules

"My elder brother said that the money lent out would multiply several times in half a year, that’s quite a lot of silver! It’s been two months since it was lent out, just another four months and I’ll get the silver back."

Gu Chengyu thought to himself after listening, the previous times seemed like offering a small benefit, but later it seems like letting out a long line to catch a big fish?

"Did you get any receipts for the silver you lent out?" Gu Chengyu was worried that He and Gu Chengyi might have carelessly pressed their fingerprints on something, as both of them were illiterate and wouldn’t know if they were tricked.

"What receipts? I don’t know, these things are all handled by my elder brother. How would a woman like me understand these things?" He looked bewildered; she just handed over the silver to her brother and only cared about collecting the money on the due dates.

"There are rules for money lending, didn’t you press any fingerprints on the paper?" Gu Chengyu thought of something, maybe the situation wasn’t as bad as they thought.

"No! I just gave it to my elder brother, no need for fingerprinting. My elder brother gives me the silver when the time comes."

After listening, Gu Chengyu felt that her two thousand taels had gone down the drain. The process of money lending wasn’t followed at all, it might have been a scam by others or even her brother. In any case, as long as He and Gu Chengyi did not sign or press fingerprints, none of it would count.

As to whether the silver would come back, it was not his concern.

"Xiao Bao! What do you say to this?"

Previously, Gu Wanhua had taken out a money loan, and Uncle Gu knew that with money lending, whether borrowing or lending, there must be receipts. Unlike He’s situation where there was nothing, if her brother didn’t admit that the silver was given by her, wouldn’t she get nothing?

"No need to solve this; our Gu Family doesn’t do money lending." Gu Chengyu smiled wryly; there’s a benefit to being ignorant.

Uncle Gu immediately understood and gave He and her husband a look as if they were fools.

Gu Chengyi felt uneasy hearing their words, "What do you mean by this? Does that mean the two thousand taels of silver won’t come back?"

Gu Chengyu ignored Gu Chengyi’s yelling and asked Ming Yan to fetch the clan rules from his room.

"Uncle! Today’s incident brought shame to the Gu Family." Speaking of which, everyone had forgotten about Wang Yue who was still hiding at the back, when brought up, everyone remembered there was still this unresolved issue.

The divorce letter for Wang Yue was already in the Gu Family’s hands, but they hadn’t yet decided what to do with her.

Uncle Gu sighed, a few more days and they’d have been joyfully hosting the scholar’s banquet, and now this incident happened.

"Uncle! You are the Clan Leader! You should know that without rules, nothing can be done properly. With so many people in our clan, if we don’t establish some regulations, such incidents might not be the last."

"You are right!"

Uncle Gu deeply agreed, Gu Chengyu was now the hope of the entire clan, once he passed the spring examination in three years, he might become an official. The Gu Family would rise to be a scholarly family, and no longer be mere commoners.

"I have drafted a set of clan rules, and I hope Uncle can review them. After all, how can the prosperity of the Gu Family rely on one person alone? I blaze a trail for everyone, and hope those following will not hold me back."

Uncle Gu quickly took the clan record in hand and reviewed it line by line.

As he read, he nodded, "Hmm! It’s very detailed. Our Gu family never had any noteworthy ancestors; clan rules were something established by big families. But now things are different, these clan rules must be established."

"Tomorrow, I will open the ancestral hall and make everyone recite the clan rules; for the Gu Family to thrive, rules cannot be lacking."

Uncle Gu, as a person who had the well-being of the clan at heart, naturally had to prioritize the clan’s interests as the Clan Leader.

"No! Not tomorrow, today, the clan rules must be enforced today!"

Gu Chengyu had already made up his mind, establishing new clan rules must be done by making an example out of someone. Otherwise, if clan members do not comply, it’d all be for nothing.

Besides, regarding this incident, although Gu Chengyi suffered physically and financially, it was still not enough to deter him. To prevent further troubles from him, he needed to be dealt with strictly. Previously, he’d handled things more leniently out of some sense of kinship.

Now, he had come to understand, some people do not appreciate kindness. If that’s the case, he might as well play the villain, only by instilling fear could he put an end to it.

Upon hearing this, Uncle Gu looked up at Gu Chengyu. The face was still the same, and the smile hadn’t changed, yet he felt there was something different in that smile compared to before.

His hand trembled slightly as he held the clan rules, according to the rules, Gu Chengyi would have to endure ten strokes; Gu Chengyu was already weak, giving him strokes would mean his death, wouldn’t it?

Mr. Gu, unable to read, sensed his elder brother was silent and got anxious.

"Elder brother! What does it say on there?"

"To receive strokes!" After a long silence, Uncle Gu replied softly. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"What?" Mr. Gu, hearing this, remained silent for a long time.

Gu Chengyi, upon hearing the strokes, panicked, "What kind of clan rules are these? Chengyu, you wrote this yourself and call it clan rules? Did you get the agreement from the clan elders? Our Gu Family is not for you to take charge!"

Gu Chengyi thought if Gu Chengyu intended to enforce this today, wouldn’t that mean making an example of him?

"Ming Mo! You and Ming Yan invite a few clan elders over; tell them there’s an important matter to discuss."

Those elders were not young, so they hadn’t come over despite such a big incident occurring today.

"Chengyu, are you determined to oppose me today?" Gu Chengyi, seeing that the elders were indeed being invited, got a bit flustered.

Mr. Gu pursed his lips but didn’t speak. Ultimately, he sighed, just hoping the second brother wouldn’t take the wrong path in the future.

"Second brother! When one makes a mistake, they must face the consequences. The Gu family’s rules should indeed be established."

Today, Gu Chengyu was determined to instill rules in the clan. If things stayed loose like this, the clan would eventually run into problems. If that happened when he was in the Capital, and they made a huge mess behind him, he wouldn’t have time to fix it even if he wanted to. What do the officials do on this regard? One report against you is enough to bring you down.

They waited for quite a while before inviting over three clan elders.

"I’ve said, our clan needs to have some clan rules. Changqing! Look at what your second son has done to the Gu Family, I can’t even hold my face out in public."

"Third uncle!" Mr. Gu, being called by name, stepped forward and apologized.

Gu Chengyu greeted them respectfully, "Dear uncles! This is the clan rules draft I made..."

Then, he read the clan rules aloud.

"Without rules, it’s hard to discipline clan members properly, I think it’s very good! Let it be so! Later we will open the ancestral hall." One uncle, with a fiery temper, had long thought there should be stricter management.

Though Gu Chengyu had just passed the scholar examination, if he doesn’t properly discipline the clan members, it would be too late by the time he becomes an official.

Quite a few top officials were dragged down by their clan members because they were far away, relying on having an official as a backing, and behaved lawlessly in their locality, many were brought down this way.