If we were to say who is closest to Xu Lingyi these days, it would be Prince Yong.

Now that the big thing has been decided, he should be quite touched!

Eleventh Lady helped Xu Lingyi change his clothes and sat down to continue making a bellyband for Jing'er.

After a while, Jing'er ran over and said, "Mom, mom, Prince Yong is here!"

"How did you know that?" Eleventh Lady smiled and put down her needlework. "Prince Yong and your father have something to say. Don't disturb them."

Prince Yong came here more often, and inevitably met several of his cousins. Xu Sizhun was gentle and polite, Xu Sijie was shy and quiet, and only Jing'er, the youngest, was not afraid of strangers and was very outgoing. As time went by, Prince Yong liked Jing'er more and more, and often brought some interesting small items to reward Jing'er.

Jinger nodded, lying on Shiyi Niang's knees and talking to his mother, "I went to Daddy's study to practice calligraphy, and I saw Prince Yong's guards, so I turned over. Mother, why did Prince Yong suddenly come to visit us?"

"Why do you say that?" Eleventh Lady touched her son's black hair which was as smooth as satin.

"We all live in Yanjing. He used to come here once a year, but you see, he comes every now and then in the past two months." His little face was calm beyond his years. "Do you think something has happened?"

I always thought he was small and had a strong temper, but I didn't expect him to have such a delicate side. If it was something else, Shiyi Niang would naturally tell him, but it was not easy to tell him about this matter.

"If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have noticed it." Eleventh Lady smiled, "I don't know. But he is a prince, he is used to being casual, maybe it was just a temporary impulse."

"If it's a labor of love, why does it happen again and again?" He disagreed with Shiyi Niang's point of view, "When the two of them met, they just talked in the study..." He looked distressed, "It doesn't seem like they had a lot to say. They often stopped in the middle of a sentence, remained silent for a long time, and then said something I didn't understand."

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Let's ignore them." Then she changed the subject, "By the way, you didn't finish telling me about your trip to Xuantong last time! What happened to the old man selling firewood?"

Jin Ge'er was refreshed and put the matter behind him for the time being: "...The young man helped him up, and seeing that he had a scratch on his face, he rewarded him with five taels of silver. As a result, when the old man saw it, he immediately knelt down in front of the young man and begged him to buy his firewood. The young man rewarded him with another tael of silver and did not want the firewood. The old man thanked him profusely, and the young man left quite proudly. I also think that the young man acted generously and upright. Unexpectedly, we met the old man selling firewood again when we were having dinner at another place the next day. He was also hit by a plain-looking black painted flat-topped carriage in time to avoid it, but this time the other party only compensated him for some medicine money. No firewood was bought from him..."

Eleventh Lady looked at her son with a smile and listened quietly to him talking about what he had seen and heard along the way, feeling very emotional.

No wonder people say that reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles.

Jing'er went out with Xu Lingyi twice and met many con men and swindlers. He gained a lot of knowledge.

Over there, Xu Lingyi sent Prince Yong away, thought for a moment, and called Xu Sizhun over.

"How much money can the family mobilize?"

After the Chinese New Year, Xu Lingyi handed over the Xu family's affairs to Xu Sizhun. After returning, he was busy with the Qu family's affairs and did not ask about the affairs of the family.

Xu Sizhun was slightly stunned.

Why did my father suddenly ask this?

Is it because he is short of money? But he doesn't need to use the money in the office!

My father should have some savings.

However, that’s not necessarily the case.

He looked at the accounts of the government office in recent years and found that the income had doubled every year. In the past, the annual income was only tens of thousands of taels of silver.

He suddenly thought of Prince Yong who visited him frequently.

I heard that Prince Yong built a very exquisite courtyard some time ago, spending more than 800,000 taels of silver.

Is it to pay off the debt to King Yong?

Thinking of this, he immediately said, "We can call for three hundred thousand taels of silver."

Xu Lingyi was a little surprised: "How can so much silver be mobilized? The income of the mansion is only 600,000 taels a year. It's only the end of August, and the first half of the year is the time to spend money..."

Xu Sizhun said hurriedly: "There are 200,000 taels in the family account, and I can still take 100,000 taels."

This number is relatively normal.

"How much silver do you have?" Xu Lingyi nodded slightly. "Don't mix your own silver with the money in the mansion. The small managers in the office never carry a copper coin when they are on duty, because they are afraid that their own money will be mixed with the public money, and it will be unclear when they count the accounts."

Xu Sizhun replied "yes" with a slightly embarrassed look, and said, "There are two hundred and six thousand four hundred and forty-five silver coins on the account."

"On the books?" Xu Lingyi's face stiffened slightly.

Xu Sizhun looked at it and started to panic: "I have carefully checked the account and there is no mistake."

The son is about to become a father, so he should be treated with some dignity. Otherwise, how can the son have the dignity of a father in front of his grandson?

Thinking of this, Xu Lingyi's tone slowed down again: "I'm asking you, how much money does Curry have left?"

The Xu family's silver was not stored there after it was collected. Instead, part of it was circulated to the creditworthy silver shops, earning some interest; part of it was kept in the warehouse for emergency use.

Xu Sizhun hurriedly said, "One hundred and seventy-six thousand nine hundred and thirty-two taels."

That's pretty clear.

Xu Lingyi nodded with satisfaction: "I want to take some money from you, how much do you think you can take away?"

Xu Sizhun thought for a moment and said, "If you need silver, you can take it all. My food, clothing, and daily necessities are all in the mansion, so the 100,000 taels of silver will just sit there..."

Xu Lingyi laughed as he listened: "Without using your money, how much can you give me?"

Xu Sizhun thought for a long time and said hesitantly, "One hundred... forty thousand taels?"

The only important festivals in the second half of the year are the Longevity Festival and the Spring Festival. Keep 20,000 taels of silver to buy things for the Longevity Festival, and use the rest for daily expenses. As for the Spring Festival, the silver should be stored at the end of the year, and it will be abundant.

Xu Lingyi nodded.

Pretty much what he thought.

He felt much relieved and his thoughts turned to Prince Yong.

Borrowing 500,000 taels of silver... is not a big problem... but if he took out all the silver at once, the Xu family would probably be in the spotlight again... the best way is to borrow a little... and everyone knows that he borrowed money...

The thought flashed through his mind. He asked Xu Sizun, "When did you pay back the money to Dafenghao?"

Oh no!

Xu Sizun was a little confused for a moment.

In February, the imperial court wanted to transport military pay to Fujian and Zhejiang. The condition was that the transporting shop had to pay a deposit of three million taels of silver first. This deposit was already three quarters of the total military pay. What if the imperial court refused to honor the debt? While several silver shops in Yanjing were hesitating, Dafenghao, which opened a branch in Yanjing from Anhui, quietly took over the deal and then privately borrowed silver from several powerful families in Yanjing at a monthly interest of 20%. General Manager Bai borrowed 200,000 taels and agreed to pay it back in mid-March. At that time, his father had told him to keep a close eye on the matter. If Dafenghao had not paid back the silver by mid-May, he should go to Prince Shun immediately. At that time, he was busy looking for a shop that made lanterns... When he checked the accounts in mid-May, both the principal and interest had been paid back. He didn't take it to heart.

I heard that Dafenghao didn't have enough silver, so it borrowed a total of one million taels.

Xu Sizhun was thinking.

It definitely wasn’t paid back in March.

If Dafenghao had a solution, it would not offer such a high profit.

But, is it due in April or May?

He really has no impression!

But his father looked at him with sharp eyes, and he began to panic: "It was paid back in May..." His voice was filled with an uncertainty that could not be concealed.

Xu Lingyi frowned slightly and called Chief Butler Bai in: "When did you pay back the money for Dafeng?"

They had never dealt with the people from Dafeng before, so it was risky to borrow this money. Manager Bai said hurriedly, "The principal and interest will be repaid by the end of March."

Xu Lingyi glanced at Xu Sizhun.

Xu Sizhun's forehead was covered with sweat.

"It seems that the Dafeng is planning to gain a foothold in Yanjing by transporting military pay?" Xu Lingyi's expression remained calm as he discussed the matter with Chief Steward Bai.

"Yes!" Manager Bai laughed. "As soon as they arrived, they took on the task of transporting military pay. They must have someone in the government. They borrowed one million taels in one go, all from people like us. They paid back the principal and interest in one month. I heard that when the money was paid back, many people said that if Dafenghao wanted to borrow money again, they could just ask. To be honest, the owner of Dafenghao is really smart."

"Then go to Dafenghao and help me borrow 200,000 taels of silver!" Xu Lingyi ordered, "Try to negotiate the interest rate with them, the lower the better!"

Although Manager Bai felt strange, he always followed Xu Lingyi blindly. He did not ask any more questions, but replied "yes" respectfully and quickly walked out of the study.

Xu Lingyi then turned around and looked at Xu Sizhun coldly: "I don't want to upset you, so I won't ask Chief Steward Bai. Tell me yourself, what have you been doing these days?"

"I, I..." Xu Sizun's face turned pale as paper.

"Making lanterns?" Xu Lingyi looked at him coldly.

He heard about it as soon as he came back.

It's just a matter of three or four thousand taels of silver.

He took Jing'er to Datong, and Shiyi Niang was afraid that she would feel empty. After Xu Sizun made such a fuss, both the Taifu and Shiyi Niang must feel better.

What's more, Xu Sizhun has loved making lanterns since he was a child, so he should be very happy to have such an opportunity.

Xu Lingyi didn't even ask.

But now it seems that he thought too simply.

In order to make lanterns, Xu Sizun threw all his words behind his back. Whether he did it to make everyone happy during the Dragon Boat Festival or to satisfy his hobby of making lanterns is hard to say.

"Okay, okay, okay." Xu Lingyi laughed in anger, "I didn't know there was a master lantern maker in our family. He would do anything to make lanterns."

Xu Sizun stood there stiffly.

He had nothing to say.

Xu Lingyi looked at the wooden face and had nothing to say.

He walked away in anger.

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Post a draft first!

Tomorrow's update will be updated at noon. I never thought that I would not wake up even when the alarm clock sounded. I am a little unsure of the time now~~~~(_