When Prince An heard the voice, he froze in his tracks. The rest of the words were stuck in his throat, and he mumbled out, "Ten thousand... silver..."
The emperor sneered and walked in accompanied by Xie Qing.
Qin Wan and Qin Zhan stood up to greet them. The emperor raised his hand and took the seat Qin Zhan had vacated. He watched the auctioneer bring down the hammer below and shook his head regretfully, "Is it too early for me? I didn't get my uncle the painting he wanted."
Prince An was sweating profusely: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."
He couldn't surrender and could only kneel.
The emperor still asked eunuch Zhang to help the man up. His old arms and legs were weak, and if he really knelt down and something went wrong, it would be the fault of him, the emperor and the creditor. "Uncle, there is no need to be so nervous. I came here today just to collect the debt myself."
Prince An couldn't help but glance outside. He hadn't noticed it just now, but now he took a closer look and saw three or five familiar-looking people downstairs. They were all officials who owed money to the national treasury.
He thought of the cousin he saw when he came here just now, and his heart suddenly turned cold. This was a trap set by His Majesty in conjunction with the Crown Prince and the Qin family to trap them all!
It doesn't seem so sad when there's someone by my side.
Prince An comforted himself, resigned himself to his fate and took out 20,000 taels of silver, then counted out 3,000 taels with a painful heart - he owed 22,835 taels and 500 coins.
Prince An handed all the banknotes to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, this is the silver I owe to the national treasury. This is 23,000 taels. Anything extra is interest."
"Haha, five years, more than 20,000 taels of silver, and more than 100 taels of interest?" The emperor sneered.
Xie Qing reminded him at the right time: "If you don't pay out 90% of the money and return 13% of the money when you lend it to a private lender, even if you take the lowest rate, if you borrow 20,000 taels of silver for a year, you will have to pay back 500 to 800 taels of interest."
Prince An, feeling pained, took out another two hundred taels of silver and said, "Your Majesty, you will at least let me live a good life, right?"
The emperor snorted lightly and didn't respond.
Xie Qing glanced at the emperor's expression and said, "My uncle is very generous. But wouldn't it be more convenient to give the money to him later?"
Prince An immediately understood that he was to be the first to take action!
He sighed. "Never mind, never mind. Who made me stand out today? If I don't get beaten, who will?"
The auction continued, and when all the items were sold, the auctioneer took out another book.
The guests all started talking about it, and someone even asked directly, "Is this a last-minute item? Is it an ancient book?"
The auctioneer smiled and said, "Everyone will know in a moment. Now please follow the waiter and leave in an orderly manner."
Some people were unhappy that the items were put up for auction but the people were asked to leave.
A chubby merchant, waving a banknote, said, "Who are you looking down on? Even if it's an ancient book, I, a merchant, can respect it. You're still making money here. Let's just follow the rules. Why hire someone else?"
Several officials were not interested in the books, but were kept. Seeing the merchants being invited to leave, they interceded and said, "Yes, we don't want them either. Let those who do want them stay."
The auctioneer looked up at the upstairs and immediately asked the officials, "Are you really going to let them stay?"
"Stay, stay, anyone who wants can stay, let us all see what treasure this is!" said the official.
The auctioneer signaled the waiter that he didn't need to invite anyone out, and then he opened the book in his hand and said, "Actually, this isn't an ancient book, but an account book. With this account book, you can ask for the money you owe."
As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at each other.
The officials found this novel, but the businessmen had an idea. They had the most bad debts in business.
Many of the debts cannot be recovered. If the account books of outstanding debts can be sold at the lowest price...
You can get the money back yourself, but as for whether others can get all their debts back, that depends on their ability. They still have to do business and cannot do anything dirty.
Immediately, some merchants began to ask, "How much silver is this account book worth? How much silver is owed in total?"
The auctioneer smiled and said, "The total is 180,000 taels of silver. The starting price for the account book is one tael of silver. The highest bidder wins. However, before the auction begins, to prevent people from being unaware of the details and being afraid to collect the debt after bidding, resulting in losses, I will read out the names of the debtors as requested by the creditors."
Prince An didn't understand this at first, but when he heard the words "one hundred and eighty thousand" and then "dare not ask for the debt", he immediately realized that this was the money owed to the court by all officials and nobles!
Prince An subconsciously covered his face with his sleeves, which was really embarrassing!
As the officials listened, they also had a bad feeling in their hearts.
A burly businessman in foreign clothing said with a smile, "There's nothing I can't get back! Just go ahead and take the photo!"
The auctioneer smiled faintly, flipped open the account book, and read aloud: "Marquis of Pingyang, Lu Yan, owes the Ministry of Revenue 100,000 taels of silver. Prince An owes the national treasury 22,835 taels and 500 wen..."
When a name came out, everyone was shocked, and the foreign merchants also shrank back silently. Pingyang Hou was very famous at the border and could not be offended.
The officials present also understood what was going on today.
However, some people still refused to accept it. The Junior Official of the Dali Temple looked embarrassed and said, "The Crown Prince has gone too far! Isn't this just trampling on the faces of the court officials and nobles?!"
"If we make public the debt, how can we get along with our colleagues in the future? How can we instruct our subordinates to do things? How can the people obey us?" The Tongzhi of Shuntian Prefecture spread his hands. He was a conscientious official and never took bribes. All the affairs he was in charge of were handled in an orderly manner. Now he only owed 300 taels of silver to the national treasury, but it was made public. It was really... embarrassing!
While the officials were complaining, the merchants sitting on the periphery had already begun to quietly withdraw. How could they not leave? Knowing so many of the officials' secrets, they might not be able to do anything to the auction house, but they could do something to them!
"Let's go and see His Majesty! I want to impeach the Crown Prince! He disregards the face of the court officials and forcibly demands payment. We just don't have the money to pay!" The Shaoqing of the Dali Temple slammed the table and stood up.
"Oh? I'd like to see how you can be so broke."
The emperor, accompanied by Xie Qing, Qin Wan, Qin Zhan and others, appeared on the stage under the protection of guards.
Qin Sheng and Qin Hua personally moved a chair and placed it behind the emperor. The emperor sat down without even looking at him. His eyes were only fixed on the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple. He remembered that this Shaoqing seemed to be someone who was won over by the eldest son. Tsk tsk, these sons didn't have good vision.
Well, except the prince.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"
"Your Majesty, I bow to you! Long live Your Majesty!"
All the court officials and merchants immediately knelt down obediently. The officials who had just been planning to denounce His Royal Highness the Crown Prince with confidence suddenly broke out in cold sweat and trembled in their legs.
The emperor looked at the Junior Official of the Dali Temple and asked softly, "You said you have no money? Hmm?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
