"Silver?" Jia Lian had just returned from outside, his face was cold from the morning breeze, and before he could wash his face with hot water, he was dragged into the house by Xi Feng.
Jia Lian flung his clothes and sat down on the brick bed. He picked up the steaming tea and took a sip." In the early years, when we conferred merit and established the government, the Great Ancestor Emperor was considerate that these meritorious officials did not have any silver, so he gave them a favor. He said that he was borrowing, but in fact, he was giving them. For so many years, he never asked for it back. Why is this suddenly happening in the court now?" Where did you hear that from? Could it be that some woman who doesn't know how to size up your wife dares to bully Second Grandmother?”
Xifeng scoffed and sat on the brick bed." If someone really bullied me, I would thank her. It's Yuanyang." Yesterday, there was something unusual in the residence. First, it was Old Master, then it was Taitai. They all went to Old Taitai's room."
"What's so unusual about Old Master and Old Lady going to Old Lady's place? They're just paying their respects and accompanying Old Lady.”
Xi Feng's phoenix eyes narrowed." Can't I even tell that you're paying your respects?! Have you ever seen An An speak like that? Listen to me." Her jade-like hand gently hooked, and Jia Lian leaned over to her ear.
Hearing this, Jia Lian didn't believe it, so he asked again,"Is what you said true?"
"Why would I lie to you about such a life-threatening thing? Naturally, they had confirmed it over and over again.”
Jia Lian frowned and put down the teacup." Although there hasn't been an edict, looking at the old master and old lady's expressions, it's most likely set. You're in charge of the family, so the public will naturally come to you for money." How much did Yuanyang say she wanted?"
"You asked for a hundred thousand taels of silver as soon as you opened your mouth."”
"So many?!" Jia Lian was shocked.
"If it's a thousand or eight thousand, I won't ask you to think of a way." You also know the situation at home. It was barely piled up to put on airs. Now, it's even better. "Back then, your Jia ancestor borrowed money to spend, and now you're forcing me to die…" Xifeng was still holding on, but when she said this, she couldn't help but cry.
Jia Lian said," What's the use of crying now? What did I say earlier? I told you to throw it away. Don't always fight for power. If you don't fight to manage this family..."
"If I don't care about this family, I don't know what will happen to this family! I've spent so much effort and filled in so many holes, but in the end, I can't even get a good one? Besides, I'm the butler, so you won't get any benefits. Is your conscience eaten by a dog?"
Jia Lian knew that now was not the time to talk about this, so he softened his attitude and reached out to wipe a tear from the corner of Xifeng's eye. He advised,"Good Grandma, why are you still fussing about those things? At the moment, we have to think of a way to get this 100,000 yuan. The living money in the public is probably not enough, so we have to borrow some from our relatives.”
Xi Feng gently pushed Jia Lian's hand away and used Juan Zi to carefully wipe her eyes."That's easy to say. Let's not talk about whether people like us can lose face by borrowing money, who can we borrow money from? This time, the imperial court wants to collect the money they borrowed. These aristocratic families and high-ranking officials, which one of them didn't borrow tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands? It's all because of this reason, but we have to borrow before we can return it. Wouldn't we be a joke?”
Jia Lian thought for a moment and nodded." Then do you have any good ideas?”
Xi Feng said," What other good ideas can we have at this time? It's just to close the door and hit the child so that we don't lose face." Of course we'll borrow. Otherwise, we won't be able to gather enough money. We'll just borrow from our own family. We're not afraid of losing face. First, I thought that Aunt Lin would be a family in the future, so I wouldn't need to rush to repay her even if I borrowed thirty or forty thousand yuan.”
"Aunt Lin is deeply trusted by His Majesty and has been in charge of salt administration for so many years. Thirty to forty thousand is not a problem." However, Suzhou was not near, after all. Distant water could not put out a nearby fire. He was afraid that he would not be able to catch up with them.”
"I naturally thought of that, so I'll leave Suzhou aside first." The nearest one is Aunt. I estimate that there will be at least ten or twenty thousand.”
Jia Lian said," There's still some time left for the shop and the farm to earn money. We have to save enough money for the monthly expenses of the public school. Including Aunt's, how much do we still lack?"”
"I have a letter here," Xi Feng said."Send it to the Wang family. Add this to it, and I'll think of a way to deal with the rest."”
Jia Lian took the letter." Your family didn't borrow any money from the court? How much could he borrow at this time?”
Xi Feng's eyes narrowed." All the noble families in the capital have borrowed money from the court," she snorted." But my family doesn't?" Of course, he did. It was just a gesture. It was not worth 100,000 yuan. You just had to go. No matter how bad it was, you could borrow 10,000 or 20,000 yuan. You had to get through this first. The rest would be dealt with later.”
Jia Lian took the letter and went. Xifeng also cleaned up and pretended not to know. Because Grandmother Jia said that she wouldn't send anyone to pay her respects today, she went to pay her respects to her eldest wife.
Xifeng had invited An back and was walking down the back corridor when she suddenly saw a shadow run over and said,"Isn't that Brother Huan? If it's him, call him over."
The servant girl hurriedly ran after him and shouted,"Third Master Huan, wait a moment. Second Grandmother is looking for you."”
Huan 'er heard the shout and knew that Xi Feng was looking for him. He didn't dare to hide and came back obediently.
"Why are you running so early in the morning?" Xi Feng said."If your brother sees you, he won't kick you."”
Jia Huan lowered his head and replied,"Yes."
Xi Feng looked at him with his head buried and shoulders hunched, just like the old servant who was leading the horse. He only had his two hands in his sleeves, and he did not look like a rich man's son at all. Not to mention the appearance of a young master, there was not even a trace of masculinity in him. Xi Feng reprimanded him again and asked his mother, who was serving him, why didn't she know to put on more thick clothes for him? He also scolded Huan 'er Bai for being a brother and a master who didn't even know how to discipline his servants.
"Let me ask you, you came from the corridor. Where did you come from?”
"Yes, I am. Old Master had asked someone to call me over early this morning. YiNiang had not woken up yet, and mother was slow, so I ran over.”
"Why did Old Master call you so early in the morning?”
Jia Huan shook his head and finally dared to raise his head. He said,"I only took the exam once. He said that my grades were average and told me to study hard. He also asked me to be tested every few days.”Jia Huan stood still. After a long time, he felt a little cold. He only replied while secretly rubbing his hands. Xifeng saw that there was no reason not to know. She wanted to say that he had a big matter in his heart and was not in the mood to deal with those in his room, so she let him go.
Xi Feng arrived at the house and just sat down when the steward's wife came to take care of it. Xi Feng calculated the situation of collecting money outside in her heart. Her heart was as uneasy as oil. She simply said that she was not feeling well and asked the matter to be done in the afternoon.
Xifeng walked back and forth in the room. The servant girl who served the charcoal stove was clever. When she saw this, she didn't come in. She only stretched her neck and looked at the courtyard door. She didn't know how long it had been when she saw Wang 'er coming from afar. She hurriedly shouted," Grandma, Wang' er is here!" Wang 'er is here!"
Xifeng called for him to come in. Wang 'er only knelt down in front of Xi Feng in the main room. With a sad face, he called out "Grandma" but did not say anything.
When Xi Feng saw this, she was instantly enraged and scolded,"Do you have charcoal in your throat or something? How's the matter of collecting money? Quickly say it!”
Wang Er swallowed his saliva and said,"We gave out a lot of money. It's big and small. It's okay if we weren't in a hurry to collect it." Today, I asked people to collect them one by one. Those who have knowledge don't dare to challenge our Rong Mansion. Most of them obediently accepted the interest and paid back the money. However, some people who are poor are courting death. They actually…"
Xi Feng knew that she had made a mistake and reprimanded,"How much is the receipt? Even if I take all of it, how much will it cost? You're too old to be able to distinguish the importance of things at this time? For such an urgent matter, the lack of things was big, so naturally, the big ones had to be collected first. Those poor people who borrowed the receipt were all short of using their wives and children to pay off the debt. They were so poor that they were dying. If you were in a hurry to collect them, how could they not cause trouble? Do you want me to teach you such a simple principle? Have you been splashed with oil or filled with horse dung?”
Wang 'er was sweating profusely and quickly kowtowed to admit his mistake. He said angrily,"It's because my brain has been filled with horse dung. I'm stupid."
"I don't have time to listen to your good deeds now. Tell me, how much have you collected?"”
Wang 'er quickly said," I'll split up with Xing' er and the others. We'll each take a square. I don't know about the other places, but I already have 17,325 taels of silver here."”
Xi Feng suppressed her anger a little and said,"Fortunately, you're still quite capable when it comes to serious matters. Otherwise, I'll send you away immediately." Let me ask you, what did you say happened to the receipt?”
Wang Er cried," Grandma doesn't know. I wanted to do what Grandma told me to do, but those poor people didn't seem to understand the human language. I said that we lent them the money, and it's the law to take it back now. I told them clearly, but those people who wanted to die said that they didn't want their lives if they wanted money. I don't know where they got the bill from, but they still dared to come to our Rong Mansion to make trouble. Two other women even threatened to sue us even if their children fell to their deaths at the yamen. I had no choice. She was afraid that she would disturb Old Madam and Old Master, so she hurriedly ran back to inform Grandma.”
" Humph!" Xi Feng punched the old pear wood door frame." You're really going against the heavens!"”After thinking for a while, he said," How about this? Get someone to guard a few courtyard doors first. If you see anyone who looks like they're causing trouble, cover their mouths and drag them away. Make sure they can't speak!" In addition, I will write a letter and send it to the yamen immediately. Please ask Master Wang to take over these cases first and suppress them. When I am free, I will clean them up one by one!”
Wang Er received the order and ran out to call a few people who were familiar with him to arrange the gatekeeper. He repeatedly said,"This is an important task arranged by Second Grandmother. If there is a slight mistake, you will consider how many lives you have."”
Those few gatekeepers were afraid that they could not work for Second Grandmother Lian, so there was no need to remind them. They changed their clothes and stood under the wall outside the door. Their eyes stared at the people coming and going like hungry wolves. As long as their clothes were tattered, they would scold them far away and not call them close.
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