I was a conman in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 52 The Grand Prize of 12,000

Chapter 52 The Grand Prize of Ten Thousand Taels

It was the day of the grand prize draw, and the south gate of Hanshan County was even more bustling than a temple fair. Just past noon, many vendors had already set up their stalls. As the draw time drew closer, the crowd grew even larger. Many people, eager to watch the excitement, even climbed up the more than three-meter-high city wall. Looking at the mischievous children sitting or standing on the wall, playing and laughing, Wang Wenzhou was genuinely afraid they would fall.

Wang Wenzhou glanced at Li Hechen and asked, "Have the accounts been summarized?"

Li Hechen hurriedly tidied up the documents in his hand, handed them to Wang Wenzhou, and said, "Your Excellency, the accounts have been settled. We have calculated them three times in a row, and there is absolutely no mistake. Please take a look, Your Excellency."

Wang Wenzhou took the ledger and glanced at it. The total city entry tax for this month was 22,000 taels of silver, half of which went into the prize pool, making the total prize money 11,000 taels of silver. Wang Wenzhou hadn't expected such a large amount of city entry tax; the population growth rate was too fast. According to the statistics of the issued good citizen certificates, Hanshan County now had a population of over 110,000. The city entry tax prize wouldn't cost Wang Wenzhou a single penny.

Wang Wenzhou waved his hand, signaling the onlookers to be quiet. He said loudly, "Fellow elders of Hanshan, I would like to thank you all for your hard work in paying taxes."

After finishing his sentence, Wang Wenzhou bowed deeply and continued, "The total amount of tax revenue entering the city this month is over 20,000 taels of silver. I have long promised that taxes collected from the people will be used for the people. Once the ice melts in a few days, I will immediately order the construction of a school. The school will temporarily be housed at the Wenwang Temple, and enrollment will begin in a few days. Families with children must bring their children to register."

"Wang Qingtian!"

"Lord Wang is wholeheartedly devoted to the people; he is truly an incorruptible official!"

"Thank you, Lord Wang!"

The people cheered excitedly, and some even knelt on the ground, kowtowing to Wang Wenzhou in gratitude.

Wang Wenzhou waved his hand and said, "Quiet! Please be quiet! I haven't finished speaking yet. The school not only offers free admission, but also provides free lunch. I assure you that the quality of the lunch will be no worse than what you would eat at home. Please feel free to let your children eat lunch at the school."

Upon hearing this, the people were astonished that such a good thing was happening. Immediately, the cries of "Wang the Upright Official" grew even louder.

The people shouted for a long time before gradually quieting down.

Wang Wenzhou began by saying, "Next, it's time for the lottery draw. Now, please welcome Mr. Cheng to come forward as witness."

Old Cheng clasped his hands in greeting to those around him and said loudly, "I am honored to have been invited by you, sir, to become a tax inspector. I did not initially approve of your actions, sir. But today, I am filled with emotion."

As Old Cheng finished speaking, he turned around, bowed deeply to Wang Wenzhou, and said from the bottom of his heart, "On behalf of the people of Hanshan, and on behalf of those children who cannot afford to go to school, thank you, Lord Wang!"

"Old Cheng, please get up! This is all within my duty. The people don't need to thank me, and you, sir, certainly don't need to thank me." Wang Wenzhou quickly helped Old Cheng up.

"Sir, you are truly benevolent!" Old Cheng thought to himself, deeply moved. He had initially been a staunch opponent of the city entry tax. Even as a tax inspector, he was afraid of Wang Wenzhou embezzling funds. He had always reviewed the city entry tax accounts, and he had to admit that he had been judging a gentleman by his own petty standards.

"Old Cheng, stop being so fussy, hurry up and draw the lottery results!"

At this moment, someone eager for the grand prize shouted loudly.

Old Cheng smiled slightly and said, "Alright! Let's draw the prizes now! This month's city entry tax, the grand prize totals 12,140 taels. All accounts have been verified by me personally. If anyone doesn't believe it, they can come forward to check."

Old Cheng looked around and asked, "Does anyone want to come and check the accounts?"

The people of Hanshan trusted Old Cheng's character. No one stepped forward to check the accounts. As for the people from out of town, it was their first time participating in a lottery draw. They had no idea what was going on—why the draw wasn't being conducted by Lord Wang, but by an old scholar.

"Since no one has questioned the accounts, I'm ready to draw the prizes." Old Cheng waved his hand and said, "Someone, bring up the prize equipment."

Several yamen runners carried a large box and placed it in front of Old Cheng.

Li Hechen handed the bag containing the numbered wooden balls to Lao Cheng.

Old Cheng took out a wooden ball and said, "I'm sure you've all noticed the numbers on the tax stamps. Each tax stamp has a unique number. In a moment, I will put these wooden balls with engraved numbers into a box. Then, seven people will each pick out one wooden ball. The number formed by the order in which the seven people pick out the ball will be the winning number for the grand prize."

This is actually the simplified version of the later Double Color Ball lottery. The box was a specially made large revolving pot by Wang Wenzhou. During the draw, Li Hechen would be next to the box, manipulating the numbers. He could decide which number would win the grand prize.

Old Cheng randomly selected seven people and handed them the wooden ball for inspection. Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, he placed the wooden ball into the box.

"Alright! Let's start the prize draw!"

Old Cheng pointed to the first person and said, "You go first!"

The man walked to the box, reached inside, took out the first wooden ball, and shouted, "Number seven!"

"Ah! I have number seven!" someone in the crowd shouted excitedly.

Ma Deyun curled his lip in disdain. "Where did this idiot come from, shouting like that? There are millions of tax receipts, plenty with number seven. There are still six numbers left. You need to get all the numbers right to win the grand prize, and there's only one grand prize winner."

Ma Deyun was also a little nervous. This month, the four talented scholars had spent a total of six thousand taels of silver on tax invoices. This was all the funds they could muster. If they won the lottery, the money would double immediately. But if they didn't win, all that money would be wasted. This sum of money was a huge amount for the four of them.

Not only was Ma Deyun nervous, but many people in the crowd were on edge, staring intently at the hand of the second person to draw a prize.

"Number twelve!" The second person drew the wooden ball.

"Hey! I'm number twelve too!" another shout erupted from the crowd.

Ma Deyun glanced at the servants beside him, who were frantically searching. After the first round, those tax stamps without the number seven were picked out and thrown on the ground. The second round began, picking out tax stamps without the number twelve. At this point, the box in front of them contained less than one-tenth of the original number of tax stamps.

Ma Deyun glanced at Geng San and his group not far away; they were also nervously searching.

Sun Feng said nervously, "I wonder if we can win the grand prize!"

Ma Deyun wasn't entirely confident either, so he could only encourage himself, saying, "Don't worry, we collected twice as many tax invoices as Geng San and his group this time. They spent all their money a few days ago. Our chances of winning the lottery are much higher than theirs."

Yang Shan said, "We won't be collecting tax invoices anymore! The risk is too great! I really didn't expect the population of Hanshan County to be growing so much! We've already invested money, and if we don't grit our teeth and persevere, all our initial investment will be wasted."

"Yes!" Ma Deyun said with a wry smile, "We've been tricked by that idiot Wang again!"