Chapter 1722 Happy
Zhao Liulang was so angry that he kicked Liu Huan. Everyone started to laugh. Feng Zongping picked up a knife and cut off a piece of meat. He put it on the plate and gave it to Zhou Man. Then he looked at Zhao Liulang and said, "Come on, you are the hero today. Which piece do you want?"
Zhao Liulang grabbed the knife and cut the meat himself. He sprinkled a handful of salt on it and took a bite. His eyes lit up and he said, "Yes, the meat you hunt yourself is delicious."
Feng Zongping turned around and pulled out another knife, and everyone gathered around to start fighting.
Manbao ate the ready-made food and nodded slightly, saying it was indeed delicious.
After taking a bite, Zhao Liulang asked, "Is the little prince all right?"
Manbao nodded, "Very good."
Zhao Liulang breathed a sigh of relief. "My father was so happy last night that he opened two jars of wine and didn't even bother to pay me twenty taels of silver from the accountant this morning."
Bai Erlang suddenly thought of something, and poked his head out from behind the hanging deer leg. He said, "You still owe me five taels."
"I know, I know. Isn't this just to pay you back that I'm asking for money from my family?"
Bai Shan was particularly curious, "How can you spend so much money?"
Zhao Liulang sighed and said, "It's not that I can spend money, but you haven't started a family yet, so there are not many places to spend money. When you have a wife and children like me, you will know how frugal money is."
Feng Zongping laughed and said, "Don't listen to his nonsense. His wife has her own dowry. You even spend your wife's dowry occasionally. Don't think we don't know."
"If I don't buy things for them, will my wife give me her dowry to spend?" Zhao Liulang sighed. "But you're right, it's really embarrassing to spend my wife's money. So, didn't I borrow from Bai Er?"
After saying this, he looked at Bai Cheng, Bai Shan and the other two, and shook his head, saying, "Your family is really quite good. You're still studying, and your family is taking care of your property. Like me, I'm married and have children, but as long as I'm still studying, these family matters are not my turn, and I can only withdraw money from the account office."
Manbao ate while wondering, "You are the son of a powerful family, how could you be short of money?"
"Who says that the children of the powerful and wealthy don't lack money? He is from a noble family. Ask him if his family lacks money?" Zhao Liulang pointed at Bai Shan.
Bai Shan thought for a moment and said, "My family is not short of money, but we are not rich either."
Zhao Liulang sneered and said, "That's because you're the only one in your family. If you had six children like me, how much would you have to spend?"
He glanced at the large banners they were wearing and pointed, "Take for example the one you're wearing. It's made of the fine down from duck necks, right? I wonder how many ducks it took to make this one. One piece of clothing could buy a small house. If my family bought me one, they would have to buy similar ones for my five brothers, otherwise it would be unfair."
"What happened to my eldest brothers and the others over that house in Chongyuanfang? In the end, my father got so angry that he gave it directly to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The same goes for these clothes and other things. Since you quarrel when I give this to you and you quarrel when I give that to you, I might as well give nothing to anyone. Each family can only withdraw a certain amount of money from the account every month. If it exceeds that, you have to find a way to deal with it yourself." Zhao Liulang said sadly, "My brothers are all working in the government. At least they get some subsidies. What do I have?"
To maintain respectability, if someone buys a horse, you have to buy one; if someone treats you to a drink, you have to return the favor; if someone wears new clothes, you have to get a fashionable set too...
If he were still alone as before, the money would be enough, not to mention his parents secretly subsidizing him. But now he has a family, so it is obviously not enough.
In his parents' eyes, since their child has become a father, it is natural for their wife to worry about such matters, and they don't care at all.
So Zhao Liulang never had enough money to spend.
Manbao and the others listened with great interest and shook their heads, thinking that he was too proud and stubborn.
Bai Shan and the others are not important, even Feng Zongping and Yi Ziyang can't quite understand it.
Seeing that they all disagreed, Zhao Liulang shook his head and said, "You are still too young. Wait until you get married, and then you will understand how helpless I am."
Manbao took the knife from his hand and ate the meat herself. She said, "You can ride a horse in the streets, get drunk in a brothel, and even hunt and roast venison in this western suburbs horse farm. How can you call this having no control over yourself?"
Bai Shan nodded and pointed at the snowflakes falling outside. "In weather like this, there's no charcoal, and even houses are leaking and collapsing. People who don't even have a place to stay are helpless."
Manbao suddenly remembered something and turned to look at the white snow outside. He said, "Although this snow may cause disasters to people, it will be good for the wheat in the fields. When the snow melts next year, it will alleviate the drought to some extent. That should be considered a good thing, right?"
Yin Huo said, "When I left home this morning, my grandmother had already sent someone to invite my sisters to come over. It seems they're planning to open a porridge stall. Do you want to join in?"
Manbao thought for a moment and said, "I have a lot of rice at home. I'll send you a truckload later. Remember to write my name on it."
Before Yin Huo could say anything, Bai Shan turned around and said, "Let's go back and ask Grandma. Maybe she'd like to open a porridge stall this year, too? Then our two stalls could be next to each other."
The latter sentence was said to Yin Huo.
Yin Huo thought about it. Bai Shan was currently studying at Chongwenguan. He would definitely become an official in two years. The Bai family was a prominent family, so they would definitely start to build momentum for him. They could also start doing business in the capital. So he nodded and said, "Okay, let's go back and discuss it first."
Bai Erlang said, "Then I'll go back and ask my eldest brother. But we don't have a farm here, so we have to buy rice, right?"
Manbao said generously: "Rice is expensive outside, I will sell it to you, I have Lu rice."
Bai Jilang: "...I know."
Zhao Liulang felt that they were worrying too much, but he also began to think about whether he should mention this matter to his mother when he returned, just as a contribution.
Little did he know that the Duke of Zhao was the first family in the capital to set up a porridge stall, and that they not only stated that they were providing relief to the victims and praying for their families, but they were also praying for the newborn grandson of the emperor.
Even the emperor was very happy, and he called several of Li Shangshu's good friends to the palace to drink together. He also planned to open a granary for disaster relief, just to pray for the little grandson.
Then Minister Liu refused.
"Your Majesty, the snow may seem heavy now, but it may not last for several days. Even if it does turn into a snowstorm, now is not the time to provide disaster relief."
Minister Li also said, "That's right. If Your Majesty is truly pleased, why not go to the Huguo Temple and donate some money so they can pray for the little grandson?"
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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