Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Did they mortgage all the Wen family’s shops?

The eldest lady was stunned, thinking it was too crazy, but when she thought about the current price of grain, she felt it was understandable. Who wouldn't be tempted by the profits that are within reach?

The eldest lady pretended to ask about the food situation, but actually she wanted to take the opportunity to find out how much food the third grandmother had stored outside besides the food in the Xie family's yard.

The Wen family’s shops have all been mortgaged, so most of Fengcheng’s grain is probably in her hands.

But she is still not satisfied with this.

After the eldest lady went in, she heard Wen Shuse and the old lady discussing mortgaging the Xie family's shop. The old lady Xie said, "My Xie family's rouge and powder shop is not like the Cui family's. It has always been a small profit but quick turnover. The profit is low in itself, and we can't make much money all year round. Let's mortgage it if we can." She glanced at the eldest lady and said to Wen Shuse, "When you sell your grain in the future, it will be enough to cover the shop that we have run for ten years."

Wen Shuse nodded gently, sitting upright on a round stool, with a slight blush on her cheeks and a cheerful look on her face.

The cash is gone, and the shop is mortgaged. Wouldn't the Xie family be left with nothing? The eldest lady didn't expect the two to be so bold. She always felt uneasy in her heart, "Put all the eggs in one basket, what if..."

"We are hoarding food, something that everyone needs. What's the big deal?" The old lady interrupted her. "If we make money from the food this time, it won't be easy for Chengji to buy a house in Dongdu. We are all family, so we should help if we can. I believe that if the second house encounters difficulties one day, you will also help."

The eldest lady was stunned for a moment, and when she reacted, she was overjoyed. She tugged at the silk handkerchief in her hand, laughed and said, "Look at what mother is saying. It's a family matter. How can his uncle and I not care?"

The eldest lady thought that the old lady was talking about the mysteries in officialdom.

Although the second master was a minister, that was all in the past. Now that he has resigned from his official position, he is no different from an ordinary citizen. When the eldest master goes to the Eastern Capital in the future and makes a difference, the Xie family will have to rely on their eldest branch.

What’s the use of having more money from the second wife? Without a background to protect her, she will only attract attention.

It would be best if they could figure it out.

With the old lady's words today, and with Wen Er present, she could no longer deny it. The eldest lady was in high spirits, as if the property in Dongdu had already been acquired, and her speech became more cheerful.

After chatting for a while, the eldest lady came out of the old lady's room. The face of the eldest lady, which had been gloomy for several days, finally brightened up. "I have to ask the master, how is the war in Luoan going..."

On the third day, news came that the war between Luoan and Xijing had broken out.

The price of rice is rising wildly.

Two hundred coins, two hundred and twenty coins, two hundred and fifty coins...

People outside were queuing in front of the rice shop, and the large sacks of rice piled up in the Xie family's yard were appreciating wildly every day.

Wen Shuse started to stockpile not only rice, but also wheat and other imported grains at high prices, and had people build a dozen porridge stalls outside, where people could go to get porridge for free, but he didn't sell it to anyone.

When the eldest lady found out, she felt heartbroken. That was porridge, not pure silver.

Someone reported the price of rice to her several times every day. As she watched the number continue to soar, the eldest lady's heart was pounding and she was so excited that she couldn't close her eyes.

Although they would not get any money, it was still within the Xie family. The second branch's career had come to an end, while the first branch's had just begun. When they went to Dongdu in the future, they would still have the final say in everything.

On the fifth day, the price of rice had risen to three hundred coins. The eldest lady could not bear the stimulation, so she went to find Wen Shuse to discuss whether she should start going out more.

Wen Shuse was not in a hurry, "Wait a little longer, isn't it still rising......"

The eldest lady had been worried about the incident at the armory last time. If the imperial court of the Eastern Capital came to reduce the power of the vassal and took away the grain, she would not be able to get a single cent back. On the other hand, as Wen Shuse said, the price of rice was still rising. If she sold it one day earlier, she would lose a lot of money. She was in a dilemma and could only try her best to find Master Xie to inquire about the previous court.

Uncle Xie couldn't give a clear answer either.

After the news came back that the prince was trapped in Gyeongju, Madam Zhou did not let Uncle Xie go outside the city to provide support, but only asked him and Prince Zhou to guard the city gate together.

Gyeongju was already suffering from drought, and coupled with the war, news from the front was slow to arrive, and Uncle Xie had no idea what the situation was.

On the eighth day, the eldest lady could no longer sit still and went to look for Wen Shuse again. As soon as she walked out of the yard, she met Mr. Xie who had returned from outside.

Seeing him in a hurry, the first lady couldn't stand the stimulation, she covered her chest and asked carefully, "What's wrong?"

Mr. Xie was afraid of scaring her, so he said directly, "The matter of the armory has been resolved. Concubine Yang Shu in the palace came forward to protect us, and His Majesty did not punish her..."

The news that people from Dongdu just brought back today was received by Prince Zhou. He was also there and understood everything.

Pei Yuanqiu did bring both witnesses and material evidence to the Eastern Capital, and at the morning court session he openly exposed Prince Jing's private manufacture of weapons and his attempt to rebel.

The evidence was irrefutable, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince volunteered to go to Zhongzhou to fight. However, Lord Yang, the father of Concubine Yang, interrupted and said, "I think there is a misunderstanding."

"Who doesn't have a knife for slaughtering cattle and sheep at home? These are just a few knives and guns that children play with. How can they be considered weapons?" Lord Yang squatted down and asked the manager of the armory in a gentle voice, "Don't be afraid. Your Highness has followed His Majesty all the way to the north and south since he was a child. We have conquered the world together on horseback. We are monarch and subject, and also father and son with deep feelings. Your Majesty will never wrongly accuse your Highness. I just need to ask you a few questions, and you just answer truthfully."

The steward had been led all the way by Pei Yuanqiu, and his face was extremely haggard. He lay on the ground, not daring to raise his head.

Lord Yang asked him, "What weapons do you have?"

The manager trembled and said, "We have swords and guns, we have them..."

"How many guns are there?"

"Four, more than forty thousand."

"Forty thousand is about that. Since you are in charge of the armory, you should know all these. You are accurate to the decimal point."

"Forty thousand, five, five thousand eight..."

"Long gun or short gun?"

“Both.”

"Were they all stolen by Hongying?"

The steward nodded.

"What about the knife? What does it look like and how long is it?"

"Seventy-five centimeters."

"How many knives are there?"

The steward paused, "It's also more than 40,000."

"About forty thousand."

"Forty-six thousand seven hundred and eight."

"It seems that Prince Jing is indeed plotting rebellion." Lord Yang slowly stood up and suddenly turned his head to ask, "How many guns?"

The manager was panicked and frightened by his cold voice. He could not remember the numbers in his mind and stuttered, "Four, forty-six thousand, six thousand five..."

Only if a person tells the truth will he not make a mistake the second time.

Lord Yang smiled, raised his hand and bowed to His Majesty, and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid the witness has been tortured into confessing."

Pei Yuanqiu's expression changed. "What do you mean, Lord Yang?"

Lord Yang ignored him and said directly to the steward, "The emperor is here today. If you dare to tell a lie, not to mention your wife and children, His Majesty will execute all your clans today for your crime of deceiving the emperor and framing the emperor's relatives."

The butler turned pale and collapsed on the ground, "Slave, slave..."

Pei Yuanqiu's original plan was that even if he failed to conquer Fengcheng, he could use this opportunity to see what the emperor's attitude towards Prince Jing was. However, he was unexpectedly interfered by this man named Yang. Although he had made all the preparations to ensure that the person in charge would not betray him, all his efforts would be in vain.

Sure enough, the steward bit the poison in his mouth and fell to the ground, rolling and struggling. Before Doctor Xuan could rush him out, he stopped moving.

Pei Yuanqiu sneered, "Master Yang is forcing the witness to death."

"I forced him to death? Wasn't it the person who hid the medicine in his mouth who forced him to death?" Lord Yang was also a tough guy. He confronted Pei Yuanqiu in front of His Majesty. "It was Lord Pei who brought him here. Lord Pei should know best. If it wasn't Lord Pei's doing, then Lord Pei must have been deceived. Someone tried to sow discord between Your Majesty and Prince Jing, and let the father and son meet each other. This intention should be punished."

The Yang family and the Wang family are cousins ​​in the future. Pei Yuanqiu never expected that the Yang family would suddenly go against him. He was caught off guard and suffered a loss.

Despite this, he remained calm and composed. "This man took the initiative to come to my house to impeach me when I returned home. I have conducted numerous cases in the Dali Temple and have obtained numerous witnesses. Could it be that all of them were brought in by me?"

Although he had cleared himself of all blame, the situation was hopeless and everyone must have weighed their thoughts.

The prince's face didn't look good.

Especially after hearing His Majesty's words, "These ants dare to frame the prince of Dafeng. It seems that they think I am a fool. I am extremely terrified! In this case, I have to suspect that the two princes who were imprisoned before were also wronged." His eyes swept to Pei Yuanqiu in the hall and said coldly, "The Dali Temple is the judge of the laws of Dafeng. If they can't investigate clearly and make a wrong judgment, the world will be in chaos."

Pei Yuanqiu's heart skipped a beat, he lifted his robe and knelt down to admit his guilt, "I failed to supervise, please punish me, Your Majesty."

The emperor did not punish him. He just said, "Reflect on yourself," and then dismissed the court.

After walking for a while, the prince caught up with him and said sincerely, "Don't worry, father. I will investigate this matter and give justice to Prince Jing."

"I am very pleased that the prince has such a heart." The emperor looked at him, not knowing whether he was warning him or just saying it unintentionally. "In the future, the country will depend on your brothers. Don't let others alienate you and cut off your left and right arms."

As soon as the matter was settled, Concubine Yang immediately sent someone to Fengcheng to report the news.

After receiving the letter, Prince Zhou was overjoyed and turned around to rush to the palace to report to Madam Zhou.

This matter has been exposed. Judging from the court's intention this time, it seems that they have no intention of reducing Prince Jing's power, and there is no need to set up defenses at the city gates.

Everyone in Fengcheng knew about Wen Shuse's hoarding of grain. Mr. Xie was annoyed by the madam's questioning these days, so he came back in person to tell her the news.

The eldest lady's heart finally settled down, she clasped her hands together and muttered, "May the gods bless you." If the feudal system really wanted to be weakened, how could the Xie family, as the deputy envoy of Fengcheng, be unscathed.

In serious cases, the family will be destroyed, and in minor cases, the victim will suffer serious injuries.

If the vassal states were not cut, the grain would be safe. Now they were just waiting to sell it at a good price and make a fortune. The eldest lady couldn't help but get excited. She pulled Master Xie and asked him mysteriously, "Master, do you know the current price of grain?"

How could Mr. Xie not know that the money had tripled? Mrs. Zhou was also having a headache, "We've made enough money, let the third son sell it quickly." Such national wealth must not be made a big deal.

"Know."

By the ninth day, the price of rice had reached three hundred and fifty coins, but it was still difficult to find a bushel of rice.

Not to mention the eldest lady, even the usually calm Nanny Fang and Aunt Qing began to get anxious. Aunt Qing didn't know how many times she had asked, "Madam, when are we going to sell it?"

Wen Shuse sat under the pear tree in the yard, looking at the corridor opposite with a calm expression.

At noon, Xiangyun finally appeared under the long corridor, holding up her skirt, and said to Wen Shuse, "Madam, someone is coming, coming..."

Wen Shuse then got up from the chair, asked Nanny Fang to keep watch at the door, and only called Aunt Qing and Xiangyun into the house.

"Aunt Qing hasn't been home for a long time, you should go back and visit your family."

Aunt Qing was stunned. "Where does this servant have a home?" She had been married twice, and both times her husband died. She became a notorious nemesis in the village. Her parents and brothers all disliked her. When they threw a bag to her, they had already told her, "If you die, die outside. Don't come back and cause trouble for everyone."

Later, she arrived in Fengcheng and was fortunate to meet the old lady of the Wen family. If the old lady hadn't given her a bite to eat, she would have starved to death. In her heart, the Wen family is her home, and the master of the Wen family is her family.

Wen Shuse said, "You have a home." He winked at Xiangyun, who turned and went into the inner room, took out a large bag from under the bed and handed it to Wen Shuse.

Wen Shuse asked Aunt Qing to sit in front of him. "Aunt has watched me grow up. I lost my mother when I was young and was raised by my grandmother. She worked hard all her life and raised three generations. I don't want her to be tormented by money in her later years."

"My father has been away from home for most of his life. He only comes back to work twice a year. He comes and goes in a hurry. He doesn't even have the chance to show filial piety to my grandmother. I often wonder if such a life is worth it. My uncle's family is counting on him to make more money, but no matter how much money you have, no one will think it's too much. How much more money is more? As long as the mountains and rivers are still there and there are people, there will be endless money to make. It's better to lose everything at once than to be counted on by others."

Aunt Qing had never heard the Second Lady speak like this before. When she heard her words, she realized that although the Second Lady looked a little weird, she actually understood the situation in her heart.

Thinking of what the old lady always said, she didn't know when the second lady would grow up, Aunt Qing's eyes suddenly became wet, and she asked in a gentle voice, "Does the lady have any ideas?"

"I won't sell the grain in the warehouse. After tomorrow, my Xie family and Wen family will be completely bankrupt and penniless." Before Aunt Qing could think about it, Wen Shuse pushed the bundle to her, "Aunt is someone close to Grandmother, I trust Aunt, take these banknotes, there will be a carriage waiting outside the west corner gate later, arranged by the old lady of the Xie family, Uncle An is also in it, you can take it to Dongdu to buy a few properties, and deposit the remaining change in the bank in Dongdu. Remember, don't tell anyone, including Grandmother and uncle, that you are only going back to your hometown to visit relatives this time."

Aunt Qing was stunned.

Xiangyun opened the bundle for her, and saw silver bills inside, all of which were worth one thousand taels.

Aunt Qing was shocked and said, "My wife has no money."

After the price of rice went up, Wen Shuse continued to hoard grain like a madman. She mortgaged the Wen family's shop and the Xie family's shop, and everything she could. All she had eyes for was grain. Who would suspect that she had hidden silver and money?

The price of food kept changing, and in just ten days it had reached a sky-high price. No one knew how much she had spent.

Aunt Qing understood instantly and said solemnly, "Don't worry, madam. I will definitely get it done."

Half an hour later, there was chaos outside.

When the eldest lady received the news, she was lying on the couch, almost forgetting to put on her shoes. She rushed all the way to Wen Shuse's courtyard and asked Nanny Fang as soon as she entered the door, "Where is the third grandmother?"

Hearing the noise, Wen Shuse closed her eyes and pretended to take a nap while sitting in the reclining chair. The eldest lady opened the curtain and came in. Regardless of whether she was asleep or not, she came forward and shouted, "Hurry up and put the food in your hand out. The sooner the better."

Wen Shuse opened his eyes, looking puzzled, "What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid it's too late." The eldest lady didn't have time to explain to her, "Remember, no matter who comes to ask for food later, you can't give it. Don't worry, as long as you and the third brother don't give in, your uncle and I will support you outside..."

As soon as she finished speaking, Nanny Fang came in and reported, "Third Madam, the old lady asked you to come over."

The old lady probably knows it too.

The eldest lady was afraid that the two would be soft-hearted, so she continued to say to them, "We have paid all the taxes we should have paid on a daily basis, and the treasury allocated food and fodder to us during the war. Now they are asking us for help, what can we do? The food was bought with pure silver. If they want it, we can buy it back at the market price."

The eldest lady originally thought that as long as the court did not reduce the power of the feudal lords, there would be peace. However, she did not expect that the war in Luoan would become more and more intense.

When the prince initially sent troops, he did not really intend to start a war. According to past experience, it was just a friction. As a result, Xijing took it seriously this time and sent a large army to deal with it.

They were not really prepared to fight, and the food and fodder were not prepared sufficiently. After three days, the food and fodder at the front began to run out.

However, there was no movement from the prince's side. The territory could not be lost, the men could not be withdrawn, and they could not go to the battlefield on an empty stomach. The army had no choice but to send several pairs of troops to various places to beg for food. After one pair of troops arrived in Gyeongju, they saw that there was a natural disaster, so they had to continue on to Fengcheng.

It took an hour to get to the city gate, and as soon as he entered, he went to the palace to find Madam Zhou.

Deputy Envoy Xie and County Magistrate Xie were both summoned to the palace, and Mr. Xie immediately sent someone to deliver the message to the eldest lady.

As the two of them rushed to the old lady's room, the eldest lady kept muttering, "Or rather, a family must have an official. Your pile of grain looks impressive, but it also attracts attention. If it weren't for your uncle and brother protecting you, you might not be able to keep it."

With the Third Brother's dandy personality, can he be a reliable person? Such a big thing happened, and I haven't even seen his shadow in the past few days. I don't know where he is drunk.

On the second day after the rice price went up, Xie Shao went out of the city with Pei Qing.

The prince was trapped. Uncle Xie was in charge of guarding the city and could not leave. Prince Zhou was even less allowed to leave the city. However, someone had to go to the prince's side to find out the situation. Zhou Kuang was worried about his men, so he found his two brothers and begged them to send the two out of the city.

I haven't been home for several days.

Wen Shuse nodded in agreement, "Aunt is right, the family really cannot be without an official."

Thinking of her previous stubbornness, and seeing that she had finally bowed her head, the eldest lady felt somewhat proud, and acted like the mistress of the house, and took Wen Shuse to the old lady's room.

My dears, it’s a little early today, hehe.